IBT Staff Reporter

Hard to understand, difficult to work with and deemed irreplaceable by many Apple fans and investors, Steve Jobs has made a life defying conventions and expectations.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after a sharp drop in European equities ignited by rumors of a short-selling ban in Germany swept away early euphoria from Warren Buffett's investment in Bank of America.

A report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services helped guide the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which provides a pool of money to take care of children who experience side effects from vaccines, federal scientists say.

In a region unaccustomed to hurricanes, it is easy to underestimate both the need to evacuate and the difficulty of doing so. But with meteorologists warning that Irene could be a historic storm, it's time to get serious.

Steve Jobs announced on Wednesday that he could no longer be chief executive of the company he co-founded.

Warren Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway said it would invest $5 billion in Bank of America, sending the bank's stock surging 20 percent and lifting the entire financial sector.

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, deemed irreplaceable by millions of fans of the operating system, Wednesday announced his resignation after signs of poor health approached.

Gold tumbled nearly 3 percent on Thursday to more than $200 below Tuesday's record highs, as investors cashed in scorching gains in the precious metal after the CME Group hiked gold trading margins for a second time this month.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told a group of reporters that unions plan to scale back their direct involvement with the Democratic party

News that Warren Buffett is riding to Bank of America Corp's rescue with a $5 billion investment likely stirred memories for shareholders of General Electric Co .

Advanced Micro Devices Inc named Rory Read as its new chief executive on Thursday, hiring the Lenovo Group Ltd <0992.HK> executive after a search that began in January.

Hurricane Irene's path could go three ways as it moves north toward the New York area, and none of them are good. The most likely scenario, based on current projections, is Irene making landfall on Long Island or in Connecticut and then moving north through western Massachusetts.

Lil Wayne has reportedly taken at hit at the Watch the Throne rapper, Jay-Z, in his latest track. It is assumed to be off his anticipated album, Tha Carter IV, Weezy spits his rhyme shamelessly.

Russian spacecraft Progress 44 failed and crashed down to Earth in a resupply mission.

In an effort to confirm whether Jordan Jefferson was involved in a bar fight last Friday, police in Baton Rouge searched the LSU quarterback's home on Wednesday. The fight left four people hospitalized, one with broken vertebrae. All will recover, but the playing careers of the football team members involved may not be so lucky.

Stocks fell about 1 percent on Thursday on weakness in industrial and technology shares, but Berkshire Hathaway's investment in Bank of America lifted the beaten down financial sector.

Shares of Research in Motion rose more than 2 percent on Thursday, after the BlackBerry maker unveiled a new cloud-based music service that allows users to share songs with other subscribers.

Hard to understand, difficult to work with and deemed irreplaceable by many Apple fans and investors, Steve Jobs has made a life defying conventions and expectations.

Steve Jobs' groundbreaking decision to resign as chief executive of Apple is widely speculated to be due to his health, as Jobs has long suffered from a rare form of pancreatic cancer, and survived longer than many others with the same disease.

The Obama administration is considering plans to allow millions of homeowners with government-backed mortgages to refinance at current interest rates.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, lifted by striking Verizon Communications workers, a government report showed on Thursday.

Casey Anthony is back in Florida for a year of probation -- but not because of her daughter Caylee's death. The woman who became infamous for partying after her daughter disappeared in 2008 and lying to investigators is now readying to serve a year-and-a-half-old probation sentence for check fraud.

Steve Jobs's resignation as Apple Inc's chief executive sent shock waves through technology and media circles on Wednesday as executives, engineers and investors spoke of becoming orphans without their Michelangelo.

Would teens not smoke and drug, had Facebook not been there?

Shares in Apple Inc were marked lower by investors on Thursday as the company faced a future without its founder and visionary Steve Jobs at the helm.

Everyone from Steve Wozniak to Arnold Schwarzenegger comment on Steve Jobs leaving his post as Apple CEO.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday as investors found little reason to buy after three days of gains on the S&P 500 and a weaker report on jobless claims.

A new study has revealed a stronger evidence for the climate-conflict link, with data showing that tropical countries affected by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation are twice as likely to suffer internal unrest compared to the phenomenon's cooler, wetter counterpart, La Niña.

The Obama administration is working on proposals to prop up the weak housing market and may back a plan to refinance government-backed mortgages at today's lower interest rates, the New York Times said, citing two people briefed on the discussions.