IBT Staff Reporter

Gold futures surged on Thursday, nearing a record high of $970 an ounce causing the dollar to continue its fall against the euro and boosted the precious metal's appeal as an inflation hedge.

Fidel Castro's withdrawal from power in Cuba could have sparked a crisis for its communist leaders, but detailed planning and water-tight secrecy ensured a stable succession. When Raul Castro was installed as Cuba's first new leader in half a century on Sunday, taking over from his ailing brother, hardly a ripple was felt in the country of 11 million people, and nobody was cheering in the streets of the anti-Castro exile stronghold of Miami.

India Inc. has praised Indian Railways' passenger-centric budget that was unveiled Tuesday, calling it a mix of populism and pragmatism.

Prince Harry, third in line to British throne,has been serving on the front line in Afghanistan with the British Army, the Ministry of Defense confirmed on Thursday.

Prince Harry of Great Britain has been serving with the British Army on the front lines in Afghanistan since December and has seen combat, the Ministry of Defense said on Thursday.

Freddie Mac, the second-biggest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, said on Thursday its loss widened to a record $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter as the housing crisis worsened.

The chief executive of US Airways Group Inc warned on Thursday that the U.S. airline industry is heading into a downturn as it grapples with record high oil prices and a weakening economy.

Web search company Google Inc is testing in the United States an online storage bank where individuals can store and access their medical records, the company said on Thursday. Just last week, Google said it was teaming up with the Cleveland Clinic, a leading academic medical center, to test an exchange of medical data that Google says will put the patient in charge of his own records.

Kenya's president and opposition leader signed a deal to create a power-sharing government on Thursday, hoping to end a post-election crisis that plunged the country into its worst turmoil since independence.

Kenyan elders demanded an apology from Washington on Thursday ahead of a planned protest over a controversial photo of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama in traditional Somali dress.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make history when he arrives in Baghdad on Sunday, the first Iranian president to step foot in Iraq on a trip many see as symbolic of Tehran's new influence over its old foe.

U.S. stocks extended losses Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 down more than 1 percent, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said some smaller banks are likely to fail and jobless claims rose.

U.S. commercial paper issuance, including the troubled asset-backed sector, rose for the first time in a month in a sign of progress in an otherwise bleak outlook for credit and the economy, new data released on Thursday showed.

Oil rose towards $101 a barrel on Thursday, trading within sight of its record high, as the U.S. dollar sank to a new low and after a supply cut in Nigeria, Africa's top exporter.

Allianz, Europe's top insurer, believes market turbulence has created acquisition opportunities in Asia, and predicts Asian sales will climb to 10 percent of total group income, or 10 billion euros ($15 billion).

A dispute over marketing rights held by mining group Xstrata's biggest shareholder is threatening a possible takeover by Brazil's Vale worth around $90 billion, a source close to the situation said.

Sprint Nextel Corp posted a $29.45 billion quarterly loss on Thursday due to a huge impairment charge and forecast that subscriber losses will deepen in the first quarter, pushing its shares down 10 percent.

Barack Obama has not asked black voters to back him solely because he could become the first black president in U.S. history, but for many African Americans the prospect remains tantalizing.

The highly touted Web-based drama series quarterlife proved a network television flop in its NBC debut, drawing the network's worst ratings for its time slot in at least 20 years, Nielsen Media Research reported on Wednesday.

Just a few weeks before the return of The Hills, MTV is giving fans a sneak peek at the hit reality series' eight upcoming bonus episodes.

The first oddity (but certainly not the last) about the eight-week Oprah Winfrey infomercial Oprah's Big Give is that there is nary a single genuine giving moment to be found during the opening hour.

Two industry groups representing China's local musicians and songwriters have filed a lawsuit against the country's Web search leader, Baidu.com Inc, accusing it of copyright violation.

Technical problems have forced the Bush administration to retool a high-tech virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and will delay the first phase for at least three years, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, many from Mexico. Immigration is a highly charged topic and a major issue in the campaign for November's presidential election.

Google Inc said on Wednesday it is offering a simple Web site publishing tool for office workers to set up and run their team collaboration sites, taking aim at Microsoft Corp's rival SharePoint franchise. Google Sites, as the new site publishing service is known, is a scaled back version of JotSpot, an easy-to-edit service for organizations and individuals to set up and edit Web sites that Google had acquired 16 months ago for undisclosed terms.

Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii game console outsold Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 nearly 4-to-1 in Japan in February as Wii software titles dominated the best seller list, a game magazine publisher said. Nintendo sold 331,627 units of the Wii in the four weeks to February 24, compared with 89,131 units of the PS3, Enterbrain said on Thursday.

Mediator Kofi Annan said Kenya's government and opposition had reached agreement on a power-sharing deal at talks on Thursday to end the country's deadly post-election crisis. We have come to an understanding on the coalition agreement, Annan told reporters after meeting President Mwai Kibaki, opposition leader Raila Odinga and African Union head Jakaya Kikwete.

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra made an emotional return from exile on Thursday, preaching reconciliation and forgiveness in a country still polarized by his five years in elected office. We can certainly have various opinions on various things, but we shall not be divided, the former telecoms tycoon told a packed news conference after arriving from Hong Kong.

Big pharma and technology companies have long been big spenders in start-ups. Others are taking their cue, opting to invest and buy tech companies and not just their products to stay ahead of the curve.

The dollar held near a record low versus the euro on Thursday after weak U.S. data fuelled recession fears and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled a readiness to cut interest rates again.