IBT Staff Reporter

Defense agency says it lost contact with the HTV-2 aircraft soon after launch.

A new study, published in British medical journal, The Lancet, found the difference in risk for male and female smokers increased by two percent for every year they smoke.

South Africa's government would act to shield the local economy against the impact of a new global recession, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Thursday, as data pointed to a slowdown in factory output in the second quarter.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency says contact with the Falcon HTV-2 was lost shortly after takeoff.

Warren Buffett has been buying amid this week's sharp declines in the market, and has not yet seen anything that suggests another downturn is emerging, the legendary investor told Fortune magazine.

Stocks rallied on Thursday as solid results from Cisco and mildly encouraging U.S. jobs data gave investors the motivation to scoop up shares beaten down after several days of sharp selling.

Boeing Co is looking to finish flight tests for its much-awaited 787 Dreamliner this weekend, the company's chief of commercial airplanes said on Thursday.

The full moon may interfere with the annual Perseid meteor shower, the most reliable meteor shower of the year this week. The shower will peak overnight Aug. 12 and Aug. 13 just before the full moon reaches its potential brightness.

New York City has filed a formal challenge to the 2010 census on Wednesday, alleging it may have overlooked "tens of thousands" of Queens and Brooklyn residents at the least.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron considers banning social media after London riots.

Inside the high-security walls of the Women's Prison of Brasilia, a number of prison inmates were walking the ramp for the 2011 Miss Penitentiary contest.

A Minotaur IV Lite rocket lifted off with the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 Thursday morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, successfully released the aircraft and entered the mission's glide phase. But contact with the plane has been lost.

AOL said on Thursday it would buy back $250 million of its stock, a move presumably intended to boost confidence in the shares, which fell 32 percent in two days.

Stocks jumped on Thursday as solid results from Cisco and mildly encouraging U.S. jobs data gave investors an excuse to scoop up shares beaten down in several days of sharp selling.

Casey Anthony, the woman accused and subsequently acquitted of killing her two-year-old child using chloroform and duct tape, came in at first place as "The Most Hated Person in America" in a survey conducted by research company E-Poll Market Research, polled 1,100 people aged 13 and older.The poll found that 53 percent of study participants knew who Casey Anthony was and that 94 percent of those who knew who she really disliked her. 57 percent of those polls said that she is "creep...

Authorities in China's southwestern city of Kunming have identified another 22 unauthorized Apple retailers weeks after a fake of the company's store in the city sparked an international storm.

Charla Nash, 57, Thursday revealed her new face after being mauled by a chimpanzee in 2009. Brigham and Women?s Hospital, where Nash underwent a 20-hour face transplant in May, released the first post-surgery photograph of Charla Nash, this morning and a statement by her.

While the rest of the world spirals into a debt-filled economic abyss, ultra-wealthy Persian Gulf states like Qatar and Kuwait are propped up by the high prices of crude oil and natural gas.

IBM executive Mark Dean talks about life after the PC on the 30th birthday of the 5150 Personal Computer.

The newest version of Apple Inc's popular iPhone has already hit the Chinese market -- the fake market that is.

The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell to a four-month low last week, a sliver of hope for an economy battered for days by a credit rating downgrade and falling share prices.

One bank in Asia has cut credit lines to major French lenders while five other banks in Asia are reviewing trades and counterparty risk as worries about the exposure of French banks to peripheral euro zone debt mounts, banking sources told Reuters on Thursday.

General Motors Co Chief Executive Dan Akerson told a German newspaper that Opel can be successful with its new cost structure, and reiterated the European brand was not for sale.

A new study, published in British medical journal, The Lancet, found the difference in risk for male and female smokers increased by two percent for every year they smoke.

Stocks advanced more than 2 percent on Thursday in another volatile session as upbeat results from Cisco and a better-than-expected labor market report offset renewed concerns about the euro zone banking system.

Physical gold is the ultimate collateral because it has no credit risk, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch?s Global Commodity Research team.

A spectacular treat awaits star-gazers as the Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12-13, generating visuals of fast-moving shooting stars.

As the Perseid Meteor Shower approaches its peak time in the overnight hours of Friday and Saturday, the full moon is expected to thwart skywatchers from enjoying the best beauty of the beloved shooting stars.

Shares of Cisco Systems Inc surged 17 percent on Thursday, a day after it forecast a modest increase in current-quarter revenue, following months of uncertainty surrounding its business.