IBT Staff Reporter

Global brewer SABMiller reported a 3 percent rise in beer volumes in the last three months of 2011, as growth in African and Latin American markets helped offset falls in North America and Europe.

Spain passed its biggest test of market sentiment so far this year on Thursday, selling far more longer-term debt than expected as the government pressed ahead with efforts to tackle its problems with the help of a European Central Bank backstop.

Sony Ericsson posted a quarterly loss that missed all forecasts after losing in the battle for smartphone sales in the key year-end period, showing the challenge for Sony as it prepares to take full control of the joint venture.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 down 0.03 to 0.2 percent at 1004 GMT.

Global brewer SABMiller reported a 3 percent rise in beer volumes in the last three months of 2011, matching forecasts, led by the emerging markets of Africa and Latin America which helped offset falls in North America and Europe.

China's 2012 economic outlook has dimmed because of weakening export demand and a faltering housing market, and its central bank will probably try to spur more bank lending to prevent a steeper slump, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

Sony Ericsson on Thursday posted a shock loss due to tough competition, the global slowdown and restructuring, marring the final quarter before it is rolled into Japanese consumer giant Sony.

Greece meets its private creditors on Thursday for a second day of bargaining on a crucial bond swap deal, with time running out for reaching a compromise needed to avoid an unruly default.

Anti-virus software maker McAfee warned that a flaw in one of its products could make customers' PCs vulnerable to attacks in which hackers used their computers to distribute spam.

Large U.S. companies are facing fewer shareholder securities fraud lawsuits than at any other time in the last decade, a trend that may persist as fallout from the 2008 financial crisis recedes.

China is filling a lending vacuum in Asia as European banks limp home to preserve capital, and is making sure loans have spin-off benefits for Chinese manufacturers and exporters, even at the expense of the rates they offer.

The CW ordered up a diverse trio of pilots Wednesday, giving the go-ahead to projects based on the Green Arrow comic-book character and Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City prequel book, along with an adaptation of the 1980s television series Beauty and the Beast.

Conrad Murray -- the former personal physician of Michael Jackson who is currently serving out a four-year jail sentence for causing the singer's death -- can at least scratch one worry off his list.

Early on in Crazy Horse, we see two women engaging in elaborate gymnastics inside a spinning hoop, while ornate stained-glass patterns are projected onto their nearly-nude torsos. Midway through the act, the camera cuts to a computer screen and the lighting technician who's keeping track of the mechanics of the act.

Will 'The Artist' run into a talkies problem when it expands into twice as many U.S. theaters this weekend?

A German man who once posed as a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family appeared in a suburban Los Angeles court on Wednesday in a hearing to determine if he should stand trial for murder in the brutal 1985 death of his landlord.

In a move somewhat akin to having George Clooney announce the Oscar nominations, Uggie the dog announced on Wednesday that the top nominee for the first Golden Collar Awards, which honor canine performances in film and television, is -- Uggie the dog.

Eastman Kodak Co is preparing to name a chief restructuring officer as it looks for ways to raise financing to keep the company in business during bankruptcy proceedings, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

One of the most common sources of computer intrusions has stopped infecting new machines after security researchers working with Facebook released the names of five suspected ringleaders.

China faces what could be its worst year of growth in a decade with policy firepower that developed nations can only dream of.

China faces what could be its worst year of growth in a decade with policy firepower that developed nations can only dream of.

An Iraq war veteran accused of knifing four homeless men to death, stabbing them each dozens of times in a bloody killing spree that rattled Orange County, California, was charged on Tuesday with murder.

California's ability to provide health care to its prison inmates has improved so much since a receiver was appointed to oversee it that the state should prepare to resume some oversight, a District Court judge said on Tuesday.

Billionaire Nicolas Berggruen's Think Long Committee for California will not press a ballot measure this year to alter the state's tax system, a move seen helping Governor Jerry Brown's plan to put a tax measure to voters.

Global miner Rio Tinto is clear to take over Mongolia's coveted Oyu Tolgoi project, which promises to be one of the world's largest copper-gold mines, after project owner Ivanhoe Mines decided to scrap a controversial poison pill.

Global miner Rio Tinto is clear to take over Mongolia's coveted Oyu Tolgoi project, which promises to be one of the world's largest copper-gold mines, after project owner Ivanhoe Mines decided to scrap a controversial poison pill.

Some members of the Congress switched sides to oppose antipiracy legislation as protests blanketed the Internet on Wednesday, turning Wikipedia dark and putting black slashes on Google and other sites as if they had been censored.

British singer Adele's multi-platinum selling album 21 scored its 16th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, entering an elite list of only five albums to cross the that mark in the past 20 years.

Fox's Tuesday-night comedy slate returned after a five-week time-out, nearly sweeping the board and giving the network an overall ratings win for the night, while ABC's Last Man Standing bounced back from a season low, according to preliminary numbers.