IBT Staff Reporter

British construction group Balfour Beatty has agreed to buy U.S. project management firm Parsons Brinckerhoff for $626 million, and will ask shareholders to help fund the deal, it said on Thursday.

Gene Simmons says Kiss fans can expect to see new outfits, a brand new stage and millions more (dollars) put into it when the group begins its Kiss Alive 35 tour to promote Sonic Boom, the band's first new album in 11 years, on September 25 in Detroit.

U.S. lithium-ion battery maker Ener1 Inc (HEV.O) said on Thursday it would supply batteries to Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Swedish Volvo brand for a new electric car prototype.

The collision of adolescent hormones and parental folly, hardly new cinematic territory, gets a bracing absurdist slant in Youth in Revolt.

Commercials director Daniel Barber calls his feature debut, Harry Brown, an urban Western, which suggests the film's allure and its problem.

Canadian factory sales rose in July at their fastest pace in 11 years, supporting expectations that the economy is growing again even though manufacturers are not expected to be the main driver of the recovery.

Quintessential New York filmmakers Spike Lee and Robert De Niro have teamed with Showtime to develop a drama series about Lower Manhattan's Alphabet City.

High exposure to certain now-banned industrial chemicals may lead to fewer female births, a new study suggests.

The global car market slump is set to spark a wave of mergers and bankruptcies among automotive suppliers being squeezed to the breaking point by weak demand and unrelenting pressure on prices, executives say.

Package delivery giant and U.S. economic bellwether FedEx Corp reported better- than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, helped by a pickup in international freight volumes and cost controls.

Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC) priced the Hong Kong portion of its initial public offering at the lower end of an indicated range, sources said on Thursday, as the IPO's size and sector appeared to have dampened demand for the construction and engineering company.

Children whose parents lack health insurance may miss out on routine care, even when the children themselves are covered, a new study finds.

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group is in final negotiations to acquire the Woody Harrelson-starring film Defendor, which received its world premiere this week at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) said on Thursday it expects its Chinese vehicle sales to climb 18 percent above its initial target of 570,000 units this year, helped by the government's tax incentives on smaller cars.

The death rate from the pandemic H1N1 swine flu is likely lower than earlier estimates, an expert in infectious diseases said on Wednesday.

The private equity arm of Standard Chartered is set to invest in a number of South Korean companies in the next 18 months as it sees good potential for minority stake purchases in the environment industry.

Italian scooter maker Piaggio's (PIA.MI) chairman and chief executive Roberto Colaninno called on Thursday for the government to continue with its incentives to support the vehicle industry in the economic downturn.

Nick Jonas got a piano and a ping-pong table for his 17th birthday Wednesday, People Magazine reported.

Magna's planned acquisition of Opel is proof that carmakers have lost the upper hand in the industry by outsourcing development work to suppliers and relying on them for technological knowhow, a top GM executive said.

Dubai World, a Dubai government holding company, filed a lawsuit in the United States this week against the former head of a subsidiary it accuses of fraud costing the United Arab Emirates firm millions of dollars.

Japan's large private banking business is set for a bruising market share battle, with local lenders beefing up and foreign banks curbing their activities but unwilling to back off completely.

Senator Max Baucus unveiled a long-awaited healthcare overhaul on Wednesday that would dramatically revamp insurance rules but does not include a government-run option backed by liberal Democrats.

Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) on Thursday launched a new model of its flagship mid-sized sedan the world's no. 5 automaker hopes will help it grab more of the higher end car market.

Virtual reality can let video game players escape from the real world but a group of researchers are using virtual reality to help the blind join the real world more, by navigating real places.

The California lawmaker who spearheaded a high-profile anti-obesity effort across the country's most populous state is now training his sights on sugar-sweetened drinks.

Drive-in restaurant chain Sonic Corp expects a 10 percent to 12 percent rise in 2010 profit as it expects to open more stores, but sees flat same-store sales at both partner and franchise drive-ins during the year.

U.S. hog and pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc on Thursday priced a $250 million stock offering below the closing price of the previous day, sending shares lower.

Gardasil will continue to dominate the U.S. cervical cancer vaccine market despite the expected launch of a competitor from GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co's chief executive said on Thursday.

Hospital-products maker Hospira Inc boosted its full-year profit and revenue forecasts on Thursday as it showcased its operations to Wall Street.