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The United States will announce nearly $1 billion in business deals, increase funding for peacekeeping and commit billions of dollars to expanding food and power programs in Africa during a summit this week, U.S. and development officials say. U.S. officials said the Aug. 4-6 summit in Washington of nearly 50 African leaders hopes to showcase U.S. interest in the fast-growing region through a series of government-private partnership deals to boost trade and investment. The spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is also a reminder of the vast development needs that persist in some of the region's poorest countries, despite rapid their rapid economic growth and investment. Administration officials have played down questions over whether the summit is in response to China's growing presence in the region. Instead, they have emphasized that American interests go beyond Africa's oil and minerals, where China is focused. "You will see a ser

China has excluded U.S.-based Symantec Corp and Russia's Kaspersky Lab from a list of approved anti-virus software vendors, according to a Chinese media report suggesting Beijing is expanding efforts to limit use of foreign technology. The state-controlled People's Daily reported the news early Sunday on its English Twitter feed, saying that the government's procurement agency "has excluded Symantec & Kaspersky" from a list of security software suppliers. A second tweet said that government procurement office had approved the use five anti-virus software brands, all from China: Qihoo 360 Technology Co, Venustech, CAJinchen, Beijing Jiangmin and Rising. Officials with Symantec could not be reached for comment. Kaspersky spokesman Alejandro Arango said: "We are investigating and engaging in conversations with Chinese authorities about this matter. It is too premature to go into any additional details at this time." The report comes after Beijing

Boutique investment bank Evercore Partners Inc said on Sunday it plans to acquire the operating business of ISI International Strategy & Investment, an independent research-driven equity sales and agency trading firm. _0"> Evercore will also acquire about 40 percent interest in its Institutional Equities business that it does not already own. The combined business will be known as Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Evercore said in a press release. Evercore will issue up to about 8 million share equivalents in the two transactions - worth about $401 million as of Friday's close - with almost 70 percent of the share equivalent consideration dependent on the financial performance of the combined business over the five years following closing. The transactions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014, and are subject to required regulatory approvals. Evercore shares closed down 8.1 percent at $50.13 on Friday. (Reporting by Angela Moon ; Editing by San

Just before Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd completed a deal to take control of media group Network18 Media & Investments Ltd in early July, two top editors stepped down. In farewell letters to staff, both mentioned press freedoms. Neither linked their decision to the change in ownership, but news of their resignation prompted heated debate over the significance of one of India's most powerful companies buying up some of the country's leading newsrooms. On July 7, the Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance is sole beneficiary, completed the acquisition of control of Network18, home to news channels CNN-IBN and CNBC-TV18, Forbes India and firstpost.com, among others. "Editorial independence and integrity have been articles of faith in (my) 26 years in journalism and maybe I am too old now to change!" wrote one of the two, Rajdeep Sardesai, who was editor-in-chief of IBN 18 News Network, including CNN-IBN, a respected English-language news chan

If Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder and CEO of SoftBank Corp needs a fresh strategy to fend off a surprise French counterbid for a prized U.S. telecoms target, he could do worse than ask budding entrepreneurs at the SoftBank Academia. Here, some 300 or so aspiring leaders - split about evenly between company insiders and entrepreneurs from outside - brainstorm ideas and vie to catch Son's eye, with a chance he'll offer them a job or invest in their company, or even choose them as his "heir" to run Japan's second most valuable listed company. The Academia, set up by Son four years ago, meets once or twice a month in the 25th floor cafeteria of SoftBank's Tokyo headquarters. In what sounds like an episode from business-reality TV show "The Apprentice", the budding leaders play business-themed board games and compete with 5-minute business proposals that are judged by their peers. The winners get to meet Son; the losers hear, "You're

Toyota Motor Corp is hitching its future to green cars, investing billions of dollars in gasoline-electric hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles, but for now its record profit performance is being powered largely by a gas-guzzling U.S. market. In the United States, relatively cheap gasoline prices helped to spur brisk 9 percent growth in industry-wide light truck sales in the first half of the year, making that one of the fastest-growing major global market segments - accounting for about one-tenth of global vehicle sales. Toyota outperformed the overall U.S. market, moreover, with its fresh model line-up - the Highlander SUV was redesigned in February and the Tundra pick-up got a facelift last September - powering a 10 percent rise in its January-June U.S. light truck sales to nearly half a million vehicles. That success is feeding the nearly $40 billion cash pile that Toyota will tap for future green car investments. "The U.S. is one of the few bright spots contributing to year-o

Portugal's central bank said on Sunday it decided to rescue troubled lender Banco Espirito Santo in a 4.9 billion euro recapitalisation to be pumped into the healthy part of the bank that will be separated from its compromised assets. _0"> The money comes mostly from the country's international bailout, which had a 6.4 billion euro line available for bank recapitalisation, via a bank resolution fund set up by Portugal in 2012, Bank of Portugal Governor Carlos Costa said. Current shareholders in BES and holders of subordinated debt will be responsible for the risks in the "bad bank" mainly associated the crumbling business empire of the bank's founding Espirito Santo family. (Reporting By Andrei Khalip; Editing by Sandra Maler )