IBT Staff Reporter

BBC Director General Mark Thompson announced proposals for an iTunes-style download service that would allow viewers to permanently download their favorite programs minutes after they have been broadcast for a fee.

Every couple of weeks it's nice to look back and see just how far Apple has come.

The pace of factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region improved in March, though new orders slowed, a survey showed on Thursday.

Oil company BP said it was investigating possible impropriety after a whistleblower sent a letter making serious allegations to Chief Executive Bob Dudley.

Stocks edged higher on Thursday, putting the benchmark S&P 500 index on track for its sixth advance in the last seven sessions as a round of economic data pointed to a slowly improving domestic economy.

Goldman Sachs faced an unprecedented assault from one of its own on Wednesday after a banker published a withering resignation letter in the New York Times, calling the Wall Street titan a toxic place where managing directors referred to their own clients as muppets.

For novelists, the days of sending manuscripts to dozens of publishers and anxiously awaiting a reply may soon be over.

Apple Inc's new iPad went on sale in Australia early on Friday, greeted by throngs of fans hungry to get hold of the U.S. consumer giant's latest, 4G-ready tablet computer.

The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing in the Northeast held up in March, providing more signs the economy was firmly on a self-sustaining growth path.

Greece's jobless rate rose to a fresh quarterly record of 20.7 percent in the last three months of 2011, reflecting the country's deep economic malaise, exacerbated by austerity to repair public finances and emerge from a debt crisis.

Stock index futures advanced on Thursday, indicating the S&P 500 may resume its march higher ahead of data on the labor market and a report on regional manufacturing.

Finland's government is forcing the country's flag carrier Finnair to overhaul its board after a scandal over executives' benefits, a minister said on Thursday.

Russia's biggest lender Sberbank plans to start a roadshow for the sale of a $6 billion government stake on April 16, in a move that underscores its arrival as a major player in a European industry decimated by the global financial crisis.

China's fifth-largest lender, Bank of Communications Co Ltd , will raise $8.9 billion to meet tighter capital requirements by placing shares with existing shareholders such as HSBC and the country's finance ministry.

UBS paid U.S. brokerage chief Robert McCann nearly 9.2 million Swiss francs ($9.9 million) overall last year, with the executive usurping investment banking head Carsten Kengeter as the Swiss bank's highest earner.

European shares traded near eight-month highs on Thursday as a brighter global economic outlook fuelled investor risk appetite, underpinning the dollar and reducing the appeal of safe-haven government debt.

Fire marshal Karen Alward thought of her 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe as a resort on wheels until gasoline prices changed her attitude toward the hulking SUV.

European shares opened near five-month highs as a brighter global economic outlook fuelled investor risk appetite, underpinning the dollar and reducing the appeal of safe-haven government debt.

NDS, which develops software for multi-channel television networks, is in advanced talks to be acquired by Cisco Systems for $5 billion, Israel's Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Thursday.

The voicemail from Felix Investments broker Jared Carmel sounded like a typical cold-call from an aggressive stock salesman.

An expected $3.5 billion record net loss as TV sales slumped is raising a red flag with investors worried that Sharp has fumbled its business strategy. Takashi Okuda's appointment as its new boss suggests it is not about to flinch and abandon making TVs.

An expected $3.5 billion record net loss as TV sales slumped is raising a red flag with investors worried that Sharp has fumbled its business strategy. Takashi Okuda's appointment as its new boss suggests it is not about to flinch and abandon making TVs.

Asian shares eased on Thursday on renewed concerns about Chinese growth, but a brighter global economic outlook underpinned the dollar and kept investor risk appetite intact, reducing the appeal of safe-haven government debts.

China Mobile <0941.HK>, the world's biggest wireless carrier by number of subscribers, met expectations by posting a 4.6 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday as higher mobile data usage offset some of the impact of hefty handset subsidies.

Bank regulators are launching a campaign to sell the markets on the idea that too big to fail is dead.

New real-identity rules to be imposed on China's Weibo are likely to make the country's most popular microblogging platform more alluring to advertisers, as Sina Corp seeks to start generating revenue from its product later this year.

Samsung Electronics Co said on Thursday a Dutch court rejected its 3G patent bid to ban sales of Apple's iPhone and iPad in the Netherlands.

Samsung Electronics Co <005930.KS> said on Thursday a Dutch court rejected its 3G patent bid to ban sales of Apple's iPhone and iPad in the Netherlands.

Samsung Electronics Co said on Thursday a Dutch court rejected its 3G patent bid to ban sales of Apple's iPhone and iPad in the Netherlands.