IBT Staff Reporter

A 2007 wildfire in northern Alaska released as much carbon as the entire Arctic tundra absorbs in one year, scientists said. The Anaktuvuk River fire spanned 400 sq miles and doubled the amount of Alaskan tundra affected by fire since 1950.

After a reported interest in Fabregas from AC Milan shocked the world, the Italian side's vice-president Adriano Galliani has come out to deny any links to the Spaniard.

The trial of Hosni Mubarak and others over their involvement in killing protesters will be held in Cairo next week, a senior official said on Thursday, ending talk it could be moved to a resort where the former president is hospitalised.

Private-equity backed video technology firm Skyfire, best known for its mobile browser, has unveiled an application for watching Flash videos on Apple's iPhones.

San Diego Padres closer Heath Bell may be traded to either the Texas Rangers or the St. Louis Cardinals.

South Africa's rand slipped on Thursday after posting strong gains this week, while bond prices fell on concerns over the U.S. debt standoff and stocks fell for the fourth straight day.

Astronomers discovered earth's first Trojan asteroid dubbed "2010 TK7" rotating the sun in earth's orbit. It is 300 meters wide and about 48 million miles from earth.

Trojan asteroid shares the same orbit as Earth. Will it come in contact with Earth anytime soon?

Videogame maker Electronic Arts has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy PopCap Games, the Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday.

South Africa's official jobless rate rose further in the second quarter of this year as the mining and manufacturing sectors shed jobs.

A U.S. deficit reduction plan that promises $4 trillion in savings over time would be a good downpayment on getting the country's strained public finances under control, said John Chambers, chairman of S&P's sovereign ratings committee.

Prized catch Carlos Beltran was expected to make his debut in the San Francisco Giants outfield at Philadelphia Thursday after being acquired in a trade with the New York Mets.

In support of rock legend Gregg Allman and R&B artist Natalie Cole's battle with Hepatitis C, the Allman Brothers Band put on a star-studded benefit show at New York's Beacon Theatre. Roughly 130 million injection drug users worldwide suffer from hepatitis C, according to a study published online by World Health Organization said on Tuesday, "World Hepatitis Day."

The White House said on Thursday it was "pretty clear" what a compromise between Republicans and Democrats would look like to reduce the deficit and lift the debt ceiling by an August 2 deadline.

National Basketball Association (NBA) officials and locked out players are expected to meet in New York next week as they try to resolve the contentious labor dispute threatening the upcoming season.

Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has been on a glide path toward the 2012 primary elections, serving up a steady diet of soundbites and campaign material attacking President Barack Obama on jobs and the economy.

Sprint Nextel posted second-quarter profit margins well below Wall Street estimates, sending its shares down 16 percent as the No. 3 U.S. mobile provider still lost more subscribers than expected despite spending heavily to fight off rivals.

Roman Polanski's "Carnage" and Tomas Alfredson's adaptation of John Le Carre's Cold War thriller "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" will be among highlights at the 2011 Venice film festival, organizers said Thursday.

Chicago Bears free-agent center Olin Kreutz may be closing in on a deal with the San Francisco 49ers.

Amy Winehouse may have died from alcohol withdrawal.

Some 100,000 South African gold miners went on strike on Thursday, but fuel workers ended a stoppage that had slowed commerce and caused panic buying.

The newest social network from Google came out of the gates red hot after reporting a 238% increase in visitors for the week of July 16. Google+ racked up 20 million users during its trial run and even courted desperate users to bid for invitations on Ebay. But as traffic and usage time begins to decline, the search giant may need to look towards other options in retaining its users.

James Murdoch is to stay on as chairman of BSkyB after the British satellite broadcaster's board voted unanimously in his favor, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Thursday.

Wall Street gained momentum on Thursday, with the Nasdaq up about 1 percent before a key vote in Congress on a plan to prevent a U.S. default.

The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits hit a three-month low last week and contracts to buy existing homes rose in June, hopeful signs for an economy that has struggled to regain momentum.

Zambian President Rupiah Banda dissolved parliament on Thursday and set September 20 as the date for elections that are likely to hand him and his Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) another five years in power in Africa's biggest copper producer.

Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence may now be the best bat on the trade market, now that Carlos Beltran has been traded to the San Francisco Giants. Two playoff rivals of the Giants who lost out in the Beltran sweepstakes have now shifted their focus to Pence.

Oracle Corp is buying a tiny maker of software used in customer service call centers as it looks to bolster its offerings that compete with Salesforce.com Inc .

German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and sales on strong demand from automotive and industrial customers.