IBT Staff Reporter

Angela Merkel won her toughest challenge yet as German chancellor by pushing through changes to a rescue fund for the euro zone debt crisis on Thursday without the humiliation of relying on opposition support.

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday stuck to its target of adding 7,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next two years, saying it sees an economic expansion there and not a double-dip recession.

Stock index futures rose on Thursday after a German vote approving new powers for the euro zone's crisis fund was approved and before data on U.S. economic growth and the labor market.

Four years after her death, a campaign sparked by Body Shop founder Anita Roddick has had surprising success in getting governments to agree to toughen up child protection laws, the campaign's manager Christopher Davis said in an interview.

A new research on galaxy clusters emerged to validate Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, on a cosmological scale.

Germany's parliament approved new powers for the euro zone's crisis fund on Thursday but it was not clear if Angela Merkel got enough votes from her coalition to silence rebels worried about funding a series of bailouts of countries like Greece.

Germany's parliament approved new powers for the euro zone's crisis fund on Thursday but it was not clear if Angela Merkel got enough votes from her coalition to silence rebels worried about funding a series of bailouts of countries like Greece.

Greek civil servants blocked the doors of government ministries on Thursday in protest against austerity ahead of the start of talks with the EU and IMF on the delivery of an aid tranche Athens needs to avoid running out of cash next month.

stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.9 to 1.2 percent.

Workers represented by the United Auto Workers union approved on Wednesday a four-year labor contract with General Motors Co, the first such deal for the top U.S. automaker since its 2009 bankruptcy.

stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.9 to 1.2 percent.

An Australian court could rule next week on an injunction sought by Apple to bar the sale of Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy 10.1 tablets in the country, a federal court judge said on Thursday.

An Australian court could rule next week on an injunction sought by Apple to bar the sale of Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy 10.1 tablets in the country, a federal court judge said on Thursday.

A string of Chinese entrepreneurs have gone into hiding to avoid repaying loans, according to state media reports, highlighting a credit squeeze on private firms and the dangers of steep interest rates in China's vast and growing informal lending market.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a battle for her political survival on Thursday when some of her coalition, worried about throwing good money after bad by bailing out Greece, could humiliate her in a parliament vote on euro-zone rescue schemes.

European index futures fell on Thursday ahead of a vote in Germany's parliament that is expected to approve new powers for the euro zone's bailout fund, but also underline the political divisions hampering efforts to solve the region's debt crisis.

Samsung Electronics expects the semiconductor industry to grow at a low rate next year as the global economic slowdown cuts into demand, a top executive said on Thursday.

Asian technology companies came under pressure on Thursday to slash prices of their tablet computers after Amazon.com launched its Kindle Fire at a mass market-friendly $199.

South Africa needs to work harder to boost the current sluggish rate of creating jobs, with the employment still well below 2008 levels, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe is hurting investor confidence and stalling recovery by promoting a law to force the transfer of foreign-owned firms to local ownership, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a battle for her political survival on Thursday when some of her coalition, worried about throwing good money after bad by bailing out Greece, could humiliate her in a parliament vote on euro-zone rescue schemes.

Groupon launched its online retail arm Groupon Goods for its American subscribers on Wednesday, moving beyond daily group discounts to compete with leaders like Amazon Inc.

Chinese police in Shanghai have arrested five people for making and selling fake versions of Apple Inc's iPhone, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.

Asian shares and commodities fell on Thursday on growing worries that Europe's intractable debt problems will plunge the world into a second global financial crisis.

On Saturday, NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) crash landed at approximately 12AM Eastern time. The location, NASA confirmed, is in a general area in the Southern hemisphere away from any major lands. To their knowledge, however, there have been no signs of UARS debris located in the predicted geographic region.

More than two years after the King of Pop Michael Jackson died, the trial of Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray kicked off, Tuesday, with the jury being shown a shocking photo of Jackson's corpse and made to hear a recording of the singer's slurred speech.

An Australian court could rule next week on an injunction sought by Apple to bar the sale of Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy 10.1 tablets in the country, a federal court judge said on Thursday.

Asian shares and commodities fell on Thursday on growing worries that Europe's intractable debt problems will plunge the world into a second global financial crisis.

European insurers Allianz and AXA SA are among the potential bidders for HSBC Holdings Plc's sale of its general insurance business, which could fetch more than $1 billion, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.