IBT Staff Reporter

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday confirmed he would resign after implementing urgent economic reforms demanded by the European Union, and said Italy must then hold an election, in which he would not stand.

Chelsea are reportedly looking to bring Gary Cahill to Stamford Bridge in January so as to shore up a leaky defence which has only managed two clean sheets in the league this season.

Chinese industrial output in October grew at its weakest annual pace in a year and inflation fell sharply, raising expectations Beijing will do more to support economic growth by fine tuning policy.

The French economy will stagnate in the last quarter of the year, the Bank of France said on Wednesday, the latest sign it is losing momentum as fiscal austerity and Europe's debt crisis depress private sector activity.

Mobile network equipment maker Ericsson said on Wednesday it was sticking to a forecast for market growth made earlier this year and that it was increasing its market share.

Sina Corp, the operator of China's largest Internet portal, swung to a third-quarter loss due to hefty writedowns on investments in two online businesses, and said it does not expect a significant increase in advertising spending next year.

Mobile network equipment maker Ericsson said on Wednesday it was sticking to a forecast for market growth made earlier this year and that it was increasing its market share.

Stock futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.5 to 0.6 percent.

HSBC Holdings cited a dire outlook for the global economy as it reported a larger-than-expected drop in third-quarter profits, hit by lower investment banking income and a rise in bad debts in the United States.

Political changes at the top of two of the euro zone's most troublesome economies boosted world stocks on Wednesday as investors bet that new brooms may help ease the currency bloc's debt crisis.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, increased profits by more than expected in the third quarter after charging more for the same amount of beer.

Political changes at the top of two of the euro zone's most troublesome economies boosted world stocks on Wednesday as investors bet that new brooms may help ease the currency bloc's debt crisis.

Robin Van Persie's scintillating form for Arsenal has seen top clubs from across Europe linked to the Dutchman, with Inter Milan the latest to be linked to the player.

Rupert Murdoch is going back to his roots, taking up the role of chairman of News Corp's Australian arm at a time when the publisher is battling a hostile government.

Chipmaker Nvidia Corp, rushing to stake out more territory in tablets and smartphones, said its new Tegra 3 processor delivers up to three times the graphics performance of its predecessor and uses 61 percent less power.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc shoppers can now research the trove of product data the world's largest retailer gathers, through a new iPad app and updated app for Apple Inc's iPhone.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc shoppers can now research the trove of product data the world's largest retailer gathers, through a new iPad app and updated app for Apple Inc's iPhone.

Cable companies will offer high-speed Internet service to low-income families at around a fifth of the national average price, the top U.S. communications regulator will announce on Wednesday.

Sometimes it's hard not to think that David Lynch's fixation on transcendental meditation isn't a joke the filmmaker is playing on us. Is there any major artist whose entire body of work has seemed more ominous, more filled with sinister intonations, less meditative? Mantras don't come much scarier than fire walk with me.

Samsung Electronics plans to invest a record 38 trillion won ($33.9 billion) in facilities and R&D next year, a 27 percent jump from an estimated 30 trillion won this year, local media reported on Wednesday, citing Samsung and industry officials.

K5 International has nabbed international rights to Benaroya Pictures' Elvis & Nixon, the companies said Tuesday.

Many people would -- and some have probably tried to -- sell their own mothers in order to get into a major motion picture. Not Bilal Ahmed.

European shares looked set to follow Asian equities higher on Wednesday and the euro steadied after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would resign, raising hopes the debt-ridden country would proceed with reforms that may keep Europe's debt crisis from spreading.

China's annual inflation rate fell sharply in October to 5.5 percent in a further pullback from July's three-year peak, giving Beijing more room to fine tune policy to help an economy feeling the chill of a global slowdown.

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that Europe's debt crisis risked plunging the global economy into a lost decade and said it was up to rich nations to shoulder the burden of restoring growth and confidence.

Losses on securities investments at the core of a scandal rocking Japan's Olympus Corp may have once exceeded $1 billion, the Nikkei newspaper said on Wednesday, as the firm's share price plunged due to doubts about its future.

Police arrested New York Public Library President Anthony Marx in Harlem Sunday for driving while intoxicated after he hit a parked sanitation truck in reverse, the New York Post reported.

Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan will appear nude on pornographic magazine Playboy, Lohan's spokesman confirmed on Monday, after the star served several hours in prison on weekends for violating probation on drunken driving and theft charges .

Adobe Systems Inc plans to lay off more than 7 percent of its workforce and take a charge of up to $94 million as part of a restructuring to focus on core businesses such as digital media and marketing.