IBT Staff Reporter

China's trade surplus narrowed for a second straight month in September to $14.5 billion, with both imports and exports lower than expected, reflecting global economic weakness and domestic cooling that will deepen policy quandaries facing Beijing.

Italy was set on Thursday to test fragile investor confidence in the euro zone's ability to heal its debt problems, with a sale of bonds, while weaker Chinese trade data acted as a reminder of broader economic problems.

Carrefour , Europe's No.1 retailer, issued a fresh profit warning on Thursday, citing an increasingly challenging economic climate.

China's trade surplus narrowed for a second straight month in September, as both imports and exports were lower than expected, reflecting global economic weakness and domestic cooling that will deepen policy quandaries facing Beijing.

Thousands of small business owners launched an online protest against Taobao Mall, a unit of China's Alibaba Group, over a fee hike that they claim puts them at a disadvantage to bigger businesses, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Asian shares rose on Thursday on growing optimism that Europe will take concrete steps to contain the region's debt woes and head off a systemic banking crisis, but European equities were seen weaker as credit problems fueled growth concerns.

China's trade surplus narrowed in September for a second month in a row as growth of exports and imports both fell below forecasts, reflecting global economic weakness and offering Beijing ammunition to resist U.S. pressure on the yuan.

China's trade surplus narrowed in September for a second month in a row as growth of exports and imports both fell below forecasts, reflecting global economic weakness and offering Beijing ammunition to resist U.S. pressure on the yuan.

A court slapped a temporary ban on the sale of Samsung Electronics' latest computer tablet in Australia on Thursday, handing rival Apple another legal victory in the two firms' global patent war.

Apple rolled out its iOS 5 mobile operating system, one week after pancreatic cancer claimed the life of its former CEO and visionary Steve Jobs. The update adds voice recognition software called “Siri”, instant messaging and support for Apple’s iCloud service, although the inclusion of Siri is limited to the iPhone 4S. MacWorld’s Dan Moren says the free update is “ambitious” and that “there’s hardly a part of Apple’s mobile operating system that isn’t altered in some way”. Engadget’s Dante...

Google Inc's plans to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc and the health of its advertising business will be in the spotlight when the Internet search leader reports quarterly results on Thursday.

The company that makes the BlackBerry smartphone is working frantically to end a three-day global service disruption that has frustrated millions of its customers and pumped up pressure on its management to make sweeping changes.

A report on Wednesday that Akamai Technologies Inc was close to being acquired by Google Inc is without merit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A group representing operators of automated teller machines filed a lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard alleging that the credit and debit card issuers violated antitrust laws by fixing the price of ATM access fees.

Shares of Akamai Technologies Inc jumped more than 11 percent following a report that it was close to being acquired by Google Inc.

Singer Chynna Phillips forgot her routine on Monday's Dancing With the Stars, and on Tuesday she was dismissed from the show.

New Mexico's state pension fund is sticking with embattled hedge fund manager John Paulson for now even as his main portfolios suffer their worst-ever losses.

An Australian court slapped a temporary ban on the sale of Samsung Electronics' latest computer tablet in the Australian market on Thursday, handing rival Apple another legal victory in the two firms' global patent war.

Facebook executive and eBay Inc board member Katie Mitic unveiled a partnership between the two companies designed to create a new crop of e-commerce applications with social networking features.

A gunman opened fire at a busy hair salon in the Southern California coastal town of Seal Beach on Wednesday in a shooting rampage that left eight people dead and another critically wounded, police said.

Fritz Manes, who produced several of his childhood friend Clint Eastwood's films in the 1980s, has died, his wife told The New York Times. He was 79.

Concerned about voter angst over California's finances, lawmakers say they may need to overhaul a ballot measure that would provide $11.1 billion for a slew of long-awaited water projects.

For only the third time in the category's 10-year history, Oscar's Best Animated Feature race may have a full slate of five nominees.

Whatever happened to Ryan Kavanaugh?The affable mogul who seems to be followed by a nimbus of doom-sayers has disappeared.

The CW is officially three for three as far as new series are concerned.

Continuing his rollout of initiatives designed to expand broadband access nationwide, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski Wednesday unveiled the Connect to Compete venture at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington D.C.

EBay Inc Chief Executive John Donahoe gave a positive outlook on Tuesday in the face of slowing economic growth and early signs of a weak holiday shopping season.

Robert Galvin, 89 -- a long-time chief executive of Motorola, the telecommunications company that created the first cellphone -- has died.

Research in Motion is blaming technical problems in its highly secretive communications network for a three-day disruption in service to millions of BlackBerry users around the globe.