IBT Staff Reporter

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Barack Obama on Thursday of behaving like his predecessor toward Iran and said there was not much point in talking to Washington unless the U.S. president apologized.

From the outside, the rustic red-brick mill on a bend in Maine's Penobscot River resembles any other struggling American pulp and paper mill.

France's Total is ready to invite Russia's Gazprom to join its projects in Africa and elsewhere, the head of Total's Russia unit said on Thursday, a day after striking a major Russian gas deal. We are very open to discussing with a company like Gazprom to have developments abroad including, of course, in Africa, Pierre Nergararyan, general director of Total E&P Russie, told reporters on Thursday.

Videogames were once blamed for rising obesity rates but are now being championed by the medical industry and for use by government departments for their health benefits.

Oil rose above $69 a barrel on Thursday after Nigeria's main militant group shut down one of Royal Dutch Shell's pipeline junction points, heightening concerns about supplies from the region.

Brazilian miner Vale signed a preliminary accord on Thursday with state-run oil company Petrobras to buy a 25 percent stake in exploration rights for oil and gas blocks off Brazil's coast.

The U.S. economy shrank slightly less in early 2009 than previously thought, the government reported on Thursday, though there was widespread weakness in activity and demand was soft.

Wall Street was set for a weak open on Thursday after the number of workers filing new jobless claims rose unexpectedly, as jitters continued to nag that an economic recovery could be tepid.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week and the number staying on the rolls after collecting an initial week of aid also edged higher, government data on Thursday showed.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week and the number staying on the rolls after collecting an initial week of aid also edged higher, government data on Thursday showed.

The Argentinean woman to whom South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford confessed having an affair with has been identified as Maria Belen Shapur resident of a 14-story building in Buenos Aires and a mother of two sons , one a teenager of driving age and the other younger, according to Terra Argentina today.

The Australian Dollar opens marginally higher from this time yesterday at 0.7965 after another 24-hour session in which most of the action happened offshore.

Stock index futures fell on Thursday after government data showed the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week.

Britain warned on Thursday of a growing risk to military and business secrets from computer spies and pledged to toughen cyber security to protect the 50 billion pounds ($82 billion) spent a year online in its economy.

First Solar Inc on Wednesday said it expected to cut manufacturing costs by a third or more over the next five years, mainly by making its solar panels more efficient at transforming sunlight into electricity.

Three-quarters of Americans believe the U.S. government should regulate the release of greenhouse gases from cars and factories to reduce global warming, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Ericsson said its chief executive, Carl-Henric Svanberg, was stepping down to become chairman of BP Plc in a surprise appointment that ends the oil major's fraught search for a successor to Peter Sutherland.

American International Group Inc , which received $180 billion of taxpayer bailouts, said it will give the government stakes in two big life insurance units that it plans to spin off.

Oil rose above $69 a barrel on Thursday after Nigeria's main militant group shut down one of Royal Dutch Shell's pipeline junction points, heightening concerns about supplies from the region.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday ahead of key data on jobless claims and economic growth.

U.S. homebuilder Lennar Corp posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, weighed by falling home deliveries and average home prices, even as the housing market experienced an uptick in new home sales.

The head of Microsoft Corp's $9 billion research unit thinks the debate over stopping climate change is being muddied by talk of renewable energy.

A U.S. district judge ruled that Sprint Nextel Corp will not face a nationwide class-action lawsuit that claims the No. 3 U.S. mobile company overcharged customers for taxes and refused refunds, court documents show.

China's top economic planning agency is likely to reject Sichuan Tengzhong's bid to buy the Hummer brand from bankrupt General Motors Corp , state radio reported on Thursday.

The heads of the top U.S. companies might be engaged in the boardroom, but they're switched off when it comes to social media, according to a new study that said CEOs should be more connected to their customers.

Oil rose toward $69 a barrel on Thursday after Nigeria's main militant group shut down one of Royal Dutch Shell's pipeline junction points, heightening concerns about supplies from the region.

LG Electronics Inc on Thursday launched liquid crystal display televisions that use light-emitting diodes as a light source, and said it was aiming to sell as many as 5 million units in 2010.

China on Thursday stepped up accusations that Google is spreading obscene content, a day after U.S. officials urged Beijing to abandon plans for controversial filtering software on new computers.

Toyota Motor Corp's new president, the grandson of the group's founder, warned on Thursday the auto industry faces another two tough years as he outlined his strategy to return the world's No.1 car company to profit.