Stocks rose Thursday, erasing earlier losses, as investors breathed a sigh of relief that the government will make more funding available to Bank of America, which is struggling in the aftermath of its purchase of Merrill Lynch.

President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package will include hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tax breaks for individuals and businesses, according to a transition official and Democratic aides.

A self-serving state deliberately impoverishes the countryside, stifling business and sending illiteracy soaring, in favor of building skyscraper-raked metropolises admired by the foreign capitalists it woos.

Toyota Motor Corp on Monday unveiled its third-generation Prius hybrid, the world’s top-selling “green” car, targeting U.S. sales of 180,000 units in the first 12 months and 400,000 globally in 2010.

In another sign that the recession is hurting the technology sector, Internet search engine Yahoo Inc. said Thursday that it will forgo annual salary increases this year as part of a cost-cutting plan