IBT Staff Reporter

The White House on Thursday proposed a bill of rights that would give consumers greater online privacy protection and could eventually give the government greater powers to police Internet firms such as Google Inc and Facebook.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is in for a torrid weekend in Mexico City.

Greece's parliament endorsed a debt swap with private bondholders on Thursday that forms the core of its 130-billion-euro bailout, despite new protests against tough budget cuts demanded in return for the rescue deal.

U.S. cable group Liberty Global is considering a bid for Dutch cable firm Ziggo, estimated to be worth 8 billion euros ($10.6 billion) and which is planning a stock listing, Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported on Thursday without citing sources.

Greece's parliament was expected to endorse a debt swap with private bondholders on Thursday that forms the core of its 130-billion-euro bailout, despite new protests against tough budget cuts demanded in return for the rescue deal.

Sears Holdings Corp announced steps to reassure investors about its ability to pay down debt, sending its shares up 10 percent in premarket trade.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Thursday U.S. economic conditions were improving and repeated his view that further easing from the U.S. central bank was not needed.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Thursday after labor market data indicated the economy continued to slowly recover.

Target Corp posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit despite a holiday season marked by heavy discounting, while Kohl's Corp , hit by shoppers' resistance to higher prices, issued a 2012 profit that missed Wall Street forecasts.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Thursday U.S. economic conditions were improving, and he cautioned against viewing the central bank's 2014 projection for raising interest rates as an iron-clad promise.

The European Commission wants euro zone leaders to agree to a bigger rescue fund to nudge the IMF into backing debt-stricken European economies, despite German resistance to boosting it, the EU's top economic official said on Thursday.

Stock index futures were little changed on Thursday ahead of a report on the U.S. labor market as initial enthusiasm over solid German data waned.

Target Corp posted a higher adjusted quarterly profit as the retailer's sales rose during the holiday season.

Stock index futures were little changed on Thursday ahead of a report on the U.S. labor market as initial enthusiasm over solid German data waned.

A Shanghai court has rejected a request by a Chinese technology firm that the sale of Apple Inc's iPads be halted across the affluent Chinese city, a source with direct knowledge of the ruling said on Thursday.

Philips Electronics said on Thursday it is cooperating with the police in connection with an investigation into a possible criminal cyber security breach discovered at Philips earlier this month.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.24 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.34 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.52 percent at 1000 GMT.

The second dose of cheap cash from the European Central Bank at the end of this month should spread more broadly across financial markets than the first, sweeping money into non-bank corporate bonds.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co were down 2 percent in premarket trading on Thursday after the world's No. 1 computer maker posted a sharp decline in quarterly earnings and warned it would take several years to turn around its sprawling businesses.

The euro zone's economy is heading into its second recession in just three years, while the wider EU will stagnate, the EU's executive said on Thursday, warning that the area has yet to break its vicious cycle of debt.

Greece's parliament voted on Thursday for an inquiry into claims the previous Socialist government inflated 2009 public deficit figures, a step that could put the reliability of the country's data back in the spotlight just days after it won a new bailout.

Greece's parliament was expected to endorse a debt swap with private bondholders on Thursday that forms the core of its 130-billion-euro bailout, despite new protests against tough budget cuts demanded in return for the rescue deal.

PayPal, the online payments company owned by eBay Inc, just got a new rival in the race to develop a mobile payment service that can be used in physical stores.

Apple's top manufacturer in China, Foxconn Technology, is having no problems luring fresh workers to churn out ever more gadgets, despite the firm's reputation as a tough employer that has put it under a thorough probe into its labor practices.

South Korea's top Internet provider, KT Corp plans to charge data-heavy content providers such as Google's Youtube and Internet-enabled TV service operators to subsidize costly network upgrades, a KT executive said on Thursday.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is pushing into the Thai reinsurance market and selling cover for higher rates, taking advantage of the retreat of competitors such as France's CCR after they suffered losses from last year's floods.

Hewlett-Packard and Dell Inc are keeping a close eye on a big jump in wages for workers that assemble Apple Inc's iPhone in China, and could be forced to nudge up prices for their own products if labor costs keep rising.

The United States said on Wednesday it was still considering whether to support Japan's bid to join talks on a trans-Pacific regional free trade agreement, three months after Tokyo announced interest in the negotiations.

Six of the world's top consumer technology firms have agreed to provide greater privacy disclosures before users download applications in order to protect the personal data of millions of consumers, California's attorney general said on Wednesday.