IBT Staff Reporter

Bharti Airtel Ltd stands a bigger chance of landing a proposed $24 billion cash and share swap with South Africa's MTN after sweetening the deal, two people familiar with the matter said.

PNG Ventures Inc filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Delaware bankruptcy court, becoming the second liquefied natural gas company this week to buckle under pressure from falling gas prices.

Smithfield Foods Inc, known as the largest hog and pork producer in the world, is transforming itself into a packaged-foods company that is less reliant on hogs and lower-margin fresh pork products, its chief executive said on Thursday.

Royal Bank of Canada may raise up to C$15 billion ($14 billion) through the sale of debt securities or preferred shares, an option that could set the stage for a major acquisition by Canada's largest lender.

General Motors Co will roll out a new marketing campaign next week offering consumers a 60-day, money-back guarantee on new vehicle purchases, backed by ads featuring its chairman, Ed Whitacre, sources briefed on the plans said.

The news website BigGovernment.com revealed Thursday a videotape and transcript showing officials of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)in assisting individuals how to lie to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Ford Motor Co sees no near-term North American labor cost disadvantage with rivals General Motors Co and Chrysler Group LLC, but is in talks with its unions to address longer-term concerns, its global labor chief said on Thursday.

General Motors' decision to sell Opel to a consortium of Canadian car parts maker Magna and Russia's Sberbank is an important intermediate step but not a final one, Sberbank said on Thursday.

General Motors does not plan to retake majority control of Opel at a later date, the U.S. carmaker's chief negotiator John Smith said on Thursday after GM decided to sell the unit to a group led by Canada's Magna.

Procter & Gamble Co said it expects sales to improve in the coming quarter as new products and other investments pay dividends, sending its shares up 4.3 percent.

Oil slipped below $72 a barrel on Thursday, reversing earlier gains, as large increases in U.S. fuel inventories overshadowed a drop in crude inventories and outlooks for a rise in global demand.

Japanese talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo Co Ltd plans to go private in a 52.7 billion yen ($571 million) buyout led by a consortium of about 20 firms, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Stocks rose on Thursday on brighter outlooks from Texas Instruments and Procter & Gamble that prompted investors to push market gains into a fifth straight session.

Steve Jobs stepped back into the spotlight for the first time in nearly a year on Wednesday, drawing a standing ovation before unveiling new and cheaper iPods for Apple Inc.

Google Inc's plan to digitize millions of books as part of a class action settlement wrongly creates a virtually compulsory license for books, the U.S. register of copyrights said on Thursday.

The U.S. trade gap widened dramatically in July as imports surged and dealers stocked up on cars for the cash for clunkers program, while more recent data showed improvement in the U.S. labor market.

Following Steve Jobs appearance at the Apple event held on Wednesday in San Francisco, the Apple co-founder spoke out in an interview about the new iPod lineup, his weight and health issues.

Executives from U.S. specialty truck maker Oshkosh Corp said on Thursday the company's 2010 outlook had been improved by the string of recent Pentagon contract awards.

The Opel Trust board, which controls a 65 percent stake in Opel and has the final word on who can acquire the carmaker, is split on General Motors' plan to sell the unit to a group led by Canada's Magna, a German government source said on Thursday.

Procter & Gamble Co said it expects sales to improve in the coming quarter as new products and other investments pay dividends, sending its shares up 4.3 percent.

A prominent analyst on Thursday called for a merger of Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable , saying such a blockbuster deal would offer a host of benefits for both cable giants.

Shares of Skyworks Solutions Inc rose as much as 12 percent on Thursday, a day after the cell phone chipmaker raised its fourth-quarter outlook citing improvement in demand, prompting at least two brokers to raise their price targets on the stock.

Don't pass the salt: If Americans were to cut their salt intake to recommended levels, they'd have far fewer cases of high blood pressure, and save billions of dollars in health care costs, a new study estimates.

In the currently filming sequel to Sex and the City, Kim Cattrall's Samantha will eye a new hunk in the form of Max Ryan.

U.S. copper futures lost more than 3 percent of their value Thursday morning as prices continued to correct further away from the psychological $3.00 a lb level amid a broader sell-off in the industrial metals complex.

Monsanto Co, the world's biggest seed company, forecast fiscal 2010 earnings below Wall Street estimates, due in part to a glut of herbicide supply, sending its shares down 6 percent.

Procter & Gamble Co stood by its earnings forecast for the current quarter on Thursday and said it expects sales to improve in the next quarter.

Stocks edged up on Thursday, extending a run up into a fifth trading session, with a brighter outlook from consumer products maker Procter & Gamble Co countering a dim forecast from Monsanto Co.

Childhood deaths have declined across the world, data released on Thursday showed, but mortality is increasingly concentrated in poor countries.