IBT Staff Reporter

NFL owners on Thursday voted to approve a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association in Atlanta, a move which represents just one half of an end to a lockout as players must now vote to pass it so the new season can begin.

Borders Group has received approval from a bankruptcy judge to commence with the liquidation of its assets.

Borders Group Inc , won bankruptcy court approval on Thursday to liquidate its 40-year-old business, effectively spelling the end for the second-largest U.S. book retailer.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, while head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, granted a waiver that allowed his eventual successor William Dudley to hold on to investments in firms getting emergency help.

Len Blavatnik's Access Industries, Sony Music Entertainment and Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group are among the music companies and private equity firms interested in buying EMI Group Ltd , people familiar with the situation said.

Microsoft Corp smashed Wall Street's earnings estimates once more, helped by strong sales of its Office software and Xbox game console, but its shares held steady on concerns about soft PC sales reducing demand for its flagship Windows product.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest may be going to Europe after all. Recently, Artest told SLAM Magazine that he is open to playing in number of European countries due to the NBA lockout.

Chinese counterfeiters have had a field day pumping out knockoffs of Apple Inc's best-selling iPhones and iPads, but one appears to have gone a step further -- a near flawless fake Apple Store that even employees believe is the real deal.

New York Mets' reliever Jason Isringhausen may be on the market and the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Arizona Diamondbacks are interested according to Fox Sports.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc will no longer keep a tight lid on its U.S. sales data after agreeing to share information with outside research firms to help it better understand how and why customers make choices.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn urged Motorola to shop around its patent portfolio to cash in on interest in wireless technology from companies like Google Inc and Apple Inc.

Microsoft Corp smashed Wall Street's earnings estimates once more, helped by strong sales of its Office software and Xbox game console, but its shares fell on concerns about soft PC sales reducing demand for its flagship Windows product.

Australian cyclist Cadel Evans of BMC kept his Tour de France hopes alive by virtually working by himself to chase down a daring Andy Schleck attack.

Google Inc boosted its spending to lobby the U.S. government by 54 percent in the second quarter, as the world's No.1 Internet search engine faces an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.

Italy's Fiat SpA bought the U.S. and Canadian governments' stakes in Chrysler Group LLC, becoming the majority shareholder in the U.S. automaker with the ability to appoint more board members.

Morgan Stanley surprised investors on Thursday with second-quarter financial results that showed long-awaited progress in its effort to seize market share from large investment banking rivals.

After a brief hiatus and an FBI takedown of several alleged hacktivists, two groups that have claimed responsibility for a recent wave of cyber vandalism say they are back.

Stocks climbed on Thursday as signs of progress on the U.S. debt talks and concrete action from Europe on its own debt crisis heartened investors.

Microsoft Corp reported a greater-than-expected 30 percent increase in fiscal fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by sales of its Office software, but profit from its core Windows product fell on soft personal computer sales.

Prime Minister David Cameron came under renewed pressure to detail his relations with scandal-hit News Corp on Thursday and the spotlight fell on other newspaper groups when an official said police were reviewing their reporting methods.

Factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region rebounded in July, but stubbornly high new filings for jobless benefits suggested an expected pick-up in economic growth in the second half of 2011 would be modest.

Andy Schleck's attack on the Col d'Izoard with more than 60 km to go in Stage 18, has primed the Leopard-Trek rider for victory in the 2011 Tour de France.

Borders is closing. But it's not all bad news. Buzz about liquidation sales is mounting.

If the economy does not show signs of sustainable improvement this quarter, the Federal Reserve should dig into its toolbox to find new ways to help it along, a top Fed official said on Thursday.

The U.S. delivered the last time there was a space race. This time those who want to see the country beat the Russians and other space competition may be relying on the private sector.

Drugs used to slow down multiple sclerosis may help patients but are unreasonably expensive, said a study Wednesday. The medications, disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) have been on the market since the 1990s and include beta interferons, glatiramer, and natalizumab.

Groupon Inc's privacy and data-collection policies came under congressional scrutiny on Thursday, the latest sign of regulatory pressure on the largest online daily deals company.

Over one million users purchased and downloaded Mac OS X in a single day, announced Apple.

Stocks climbed on Thursday as signs of progress on the U.S. debt talks and concrete action from Europe on its own debt crisis heartened investors.