IBT Staff Reporter

ConocoPhillips said on Thursday it would spin off its refining and marketing operation, in hopes each arm would be worth more as a separate company.

China eased export curbs for rare earths on Thursday, restoring it to near-2010 levels in a bid to appease its trading partners, but the European Union said the measure did not go far enough to address concerns of stable supplies.

Chelsea and Luka Modric have received the clearest indication yet that Tottenham are in no mood to sell the Croat after Spurs manager Harry Redknapp out-rightly rejected Modric's written transfer request.

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said Groupon Inc's daily deal coupons may violate state law.

Curt Schilling was one of Major League Baseball's dominant pitchers for some 20 seasons and since retiring, his game playing has taken a new direction -- he owns a company aiming to conquer the $65 billion video game industry.

The much-speculated July 14 launch of Mac OS X Lion turned out to be a non-event.Though Lion didn't roar as of yet, its snoring may not last so long anyway - the next rumors in line suggest Lion's launch as early as tomorrow, or all the way pushed back to July 26th.

New York City should invest more of its pension funds in international equities and other assets because improving returns would help the city with its soaring contributions, Deputy Mayor Robert Steel said on Thursday.

Netflix's price increase for DVD and streaming rentals was greeted with a massive disapproval from members who were outraged with the 60 percent increase.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress on Thursday that overzealous cuts to government spending could derail an already fragile recovery and said a U.S. debt default could wreak financial havoc.

The number of Americans claiming initial unemployment benefits dropped last week, but remained elevated and retail sales barely rose, suggesting the economy would struggle to regain speed in the second half.

The official teaser trailer for John Carter was released online today by Walt Disney Pictures.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has been invited to ring the NASDAQ bell at 4pm on a trip to secure $1.4 million from New York Mayor's Bloomberg Philanthropies, hoping to follow Bloomberg's footsteps to initiate a government customer service help center to lower homelessness in the city.

Mila Kunis has reportedly backed out of her Marine Corps date with Sergeant Scott Moore.

It was an incredible experience that none of us will ever forget, said Michael Fishbach, who narrated his encounter with Valentina, a humpback whale entangled in a fishing net.

The al-Qaida is launching a ‘cyber jihad’ on the West and there have been increasing attempts by terrorists to ‘invade’ Facebook and other social networking sites for propaganda and to organize attacks.

Liverpool are on the verge of completing a deal for Stewart Downing after agreeing a fee with Aston Villa for the 26-year-old.

Richard Anthony Franco, 27, pleaded 'not guilty' after being arrested and caught trespassing at Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry's home. Franco, who is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail, was charged Wednesday with one felony count of stalking after allegedly showing up at Berry's Hollywood Hills home on repeated occasions.

Stocks were little changed on Thursday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered congressional testimony for the second day and worries about hitting the U.S. debt ceiling dogged investors.

Italy's austerity budget passed its first parliamentary hurdle Thursday but the opposition says Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government is in a shambles and should resign after it is finally approved.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 will be seen in over 11,000 screens, in over 4,000 locations. It has broken the record for highest pre-opening ticket sales with $32 million already spent. Of course, fans every where have already purchased their ticket and will be lining up outside theatres tonight to watch the franchise's last film.

A new rumor circulating the web sphere says that Apple will be launching the next generation of iPhone, the iPhone 5, on both T-Mobile and Sprint networks.

After two exhausting days of search for the eight-year-old boy, Leiby Kletzky's dismembered body was found by authorities in two locations in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Kletzky's funeral on Thursday drew thousands of people. Levi Aron, 35, will be in court Thursday, charged with second-degree murder of Leiby Kletzky.

Hugh Hefner, DEAD? Rumors of the Hef's demise proved yesterday that 2011 is the year of the hoax.

According to one report, consumers will have to wait one more day for the Mac OS X Lion

Late Tuesday, Netflix announced that it would raise the Internet plus DVDs in the mail plan from $9.99 per month to $15.98 per month. This decision has caused a huge customer backlash. Why did Netflix raise the price despite widespread customer discontent?

A 53-hour halt will occur this weekend for Los Angeles residents, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, who is reaching out for help in urging folks - with the help of celebrities, Lady Gaga and Ashton Kutcher - to stand, or drive, clear of the area.

WikiLeaks and the Icelandic IT company DataCell filed a formal complaint to the European Commission on Thursday, saying payment companies Visa Europe and MasterCard Inc violated EU antitrust laws by blocking donations.

The United States may lose its top-notch credit rating in the next few weeks if lawmakers fail to increase the country's legal borrowing limit and the government misses debt payments, Moody's Investors Service warned on Wednesday.