IBT Staff Reporter

Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament approved a motion to strengthen the euro zone rescue fund via leveraging on Wednesday, providing Chancellor Angela Merkel with the mandate she needs to negotiate at a key euro summit later in Brussels.

Iran's parliament has dropped a summons calling President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in for questioning, Iranian media reported on Wednesday, signalling an uneasy truce after months of political struggle between rival conservative factions.

Ireland is hoping to capitalise on any deal to increase the firepower of the euro zone's rescue fund on Wednesday to reduce its own debt burden, Prime Minister Enda Kenny told the country's parliament.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said its reorganization plan has the backing of creditors who hold more than $160 billion of claims, and believes it has won enough support to end its record bankruptcy.

Three big defense contractors posted solid profits on Wednesday, but their shares fell on concerns that leaner budgets would hurt performance.

Joe the Plumber, an unlikely figure from the 2008 presidential race, is running for Congress, he officially announced today.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is expected to give a European summit on Wednesday only vague promises of economic reform instead of the firm undertakings demanded by European leaders.

Olympus Corp head Tsuyoshi Kikukawa resigned on Wednesday after a scandal over hefty advisory fees wiped out half of the 92-year-old firm's market value while his successor stuck with the company's line that it had done nothing wrong.

Research In Motion won't upgrade the software for its much-maligned PlayBook tablet computer until February, months behind schedule, and the new version still won't feature the popular BlackBerry Messenger application.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is shutting its New York fashion office and consolidating buying operations at its home base in Bentonville, Arkansas, after flopping in its attempt to attract customers by offering trendier clothes.

GlaxoSmithKline's sales returned to growth in the third quarter as Britain's biggest drugmaker put patent expiries and a collapse in revenue from troubled diabetes pill Avandia behind it.

The economy appears to be heading into the fourth quarter with solid momentum with demand for a range of long-lasting U.S.-made goods rising at the fastest pace in six months in September and businesses stepping up spending plans.

Air India's board has recommended that the state-run airline buy just 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, down from 27 the company ordered in 2005, according to a report.

The Volcker rule has created a new battlefield over Wall Street pay that banks fear will send their star traders and hedge fund advisers fleeing.

The incoming head of the European Central Bank threw the euro zone a lifeline hours before a crucial summit on Wednesday which looked set to fall short of a definitive plan to tackle the bloc's debt crisis.

British factory orders fell at their fastest pace in a year in October and firms expect to cut output, a survey by a leading business lobby group showed on Wednesday, reinforcing fears the economy may tip back into recession.

The Boeing Co Dreamliner, the world's first carbon-composite airliner, flew to Hong Kong from Tokyo carrying its first paying passengers on Wednesday in a flight that could set a new benchmark in air travel.

Stocks erased early gains on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P well off their highs and the Nasdaq negative, on caution over a European summit to resolve the debt crisis and the economic outlook.

New U.S. single-family home sales rose at their fastest pace in five months in September, a government report showed on Wednesday, but sustained price declines indicated the housing market is far from recovery.

Boeing Co posted a larger quarterly profit on Wednesday, topping analyst forecasts, on strong commercial and military sales, and the company raised its earnings forecast for the full year.

The 25-year-old LiLo has been busy in Playboy Mansion these past two days, as the troubled Hollywood actress posed nude for the magazine.

Floodwater swamped a new area of Thailand's capital on Wednesday as some shops started rationing food and the prime minister warned that parts of Bangkok could be flooded for up to a month.

Tens of thousands of supporters of President Bashar al-Assad rallied in Damascus on Wednesday while his opponents staged strikes across Syria ahead of an Arab league mission aimed at bringing the two sides together for talks.

A giant 8-foot, 100-pound fiberglass Lego man that washed up on Siesta Key, Florida beach Tuesday morning has left crowds wondering how it got there and who did it?

Few economists have been as spectacularly wrong as Thomas Malthus, who predicted in 1798 that unchecked population growth would doom the Earth to starvation.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is moving closer to emerging from its record bankruptcy, and that its Chapter 11 reorganization is now backed by creditors who hold more than $160 billion of claims.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday European leaders should agree on what would amount to a 50 percent write down of Greek debt from the private sector at a summit to tackle the euro zone debt crisis later.

Britain's top share index was steady Wednesday, with investors keeping largely to the sidelines as the prospects for a comprehensive deal to tackle the euro zone debt crisis at a summit looked slim.

The Islamist leader whose party is now Tunisia's most powerful political force met stock market executives on Wednesday to send the message that the government ushered in by the Arab Spring revolt will be business friendly.