BERLIN (AFP) - Competition to Apple's highly successful iPad hotted up on Thursday as Samsung and Toshiba unveiled rival tablet PCs that they hope will steal some of the Californian giant's thunder.
MOSCOW (AFP) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia, a major world producer, would not lift a ban on grain exports before next year's harvest, extending the embargo until at least mid-2011.
MELBOURNE/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China is stepping up attempts to hamper BHP Billiton's $39 billion hostile offer for Potash Corp, amid worries about future supplies of fertilizer it needs to rapidly boost food production.
FRANKFURT (AFP) - The European Central Bank bought extra insurance Thursday against the economic recovery running out of steam by extending emergency funds for commercial banks even as it hiked its growth and inflation forecasts.
REGINA - Saskatchewan's Energy and Resources minister says the Conference Board of Canada will conduct an independent analysis of a proposed takeover of PotashCorp (TSX:POT).