IBT Staff Reporter

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday after strong gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.3 to 0.9 percent.

For decades, American workers and their machines advanced in tandem. As companies invested in technology, more workers were needed to operate machines.

Apple Inc stunned Wall Street with quarterly results that missed expectations for the first time in years as customers held off buying iPhones until the October launch of the latest version.

iPhone 4S hit the stores Friday last, after a long course of anticipation about iPhone 5.The new smartphone runs on Apple's new iOS 5, OS sporting some of the rumored features and specifications that turned cacophonous over the Internet in the past few months.

French on-line music streaming service Deezer will launch in more than 100 countries in the coming weeks, and the start-up is negotiating with roughly a dozen telecom operators on partnerships in a bid to expand its global reach.

Samsung Electronics unveiled the first smartphone running on Google's latest version of the Android operating system, which combines software used in tablets and smartphones, as they step up competition against Apple.

The European Commission seized documents from several major banks on Tuesday, marking the intensification of a world-wide law-enforcement probe into how key interest rates are set, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday after strong gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.3 to 0.9 percent.

Samsung Electronics unveiled the first smartphone running on Google's latest version of the Android operating system, which combines software used in tablets and smartphones, as they step up competition against Apple.

European stocks and the euro rose on Wednesday, on optimism policymakers will take major steps at a summit this weekend to solve the festering debt crisis and offsetting the impact from a cut to Spain's sovereign credit rating.

Real Madrid stormed to a 4-0 win over Lyon, their third consecutive win in the group stages, and is in line to be amongst the first team to qualify for the knockout rounds.

Manchester City left it late against Villarreal, grabbing a vital 2-1 win against the Spaniards through Sergio Aguero's 93rd minute winner.

No agreement has yet been reached on scaling up the size of the Eurozone's bailout fund to better tackle the debt crisis, two senior European Union officials said on Wednesday.

No agreement has yet been reached on scaling up the size of the euro zone's bailout fund to better tackle the debt crisis, two senior European Union officials said on Wednesday.

Manchester United secured their first win in this year's Uefa Champions League, with a 2-0 win over Otelul Galati at the National Arena in Romania.

European stock index futures jumped on Wednesday, tracking a rise in Asian shares, but a cut to Spain's sovereign credit rating from Moody's Investors Service kept investors' risk appetite in check.

A double-notch downgrade to Spain's credit ratings has piled more pressure on European leaders to make rapid progress on solving the region's debt crisis or face unbearable borrowing costs.

European stock index futures jumped on Wednesday, tracking a rise in Asian shares, but a cut to Spain's sovereign credit rating from Moody's Investors Service kept investors' risk appetite in check.

Now, the English can watch Johnny English on Facebook.

The Hills are alive -- with the sound of litigation!

Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to director Michael Cuesta's Roadie, the company announced Tuesday.

A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Kansas City from Los Angeles made an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas on Tuesday after a passenger became unruly, authorities and the airline said.

Paul McCartney's ex-wife Heather Mills has been sued by a Los Angeles hairdresser who claims the former reality TV show contestant failed to pay as much as $80,000 as she pursued stardom in Hollywood.

A terminally ill prisoner whose 1963 murder of a policeman was chronicled in the book and film The Onion Field was denied compassionate release on Tuesday after he said he didn't want to be freed, officials said.

If there's nothing to fear but fear itself, as President Franklin Roosevelt contended during the Great Depression, then the world economy in 2011 has reached an interesting juncture between sentiment and reality.

Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday that it would launch a new smartphone running Google's latest version of the Android operating system globally starting in Europe in November, as it is locked in a battle for smartphone supremacy with Apple Inc..

A double-notch downgrade to Spain's credit ratings has piled more pressure on European leaders to make rapid progress on solving the region's debt crisis or face unbearable borrowing costs.

It's beginning to look a lot like a weaker Christmas.

A double-notch downgrade to Spain's credit ratings has piled more pressure on European leaders to make rapid progress on solving the region's debt crisis or face unbearable borrowing costs.