IBT Staff Reporter

Former European Central Bank Executive Board member and Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, an architect of the euro and one of Italy's most respected figures, died on Saturday evening of a heart attack.

Wall Street banks have been gripped by a certain euphoria in recent weeks, with their economists touting a modest improvement in U.S. data as an omen of more robust growth to come in 2011.

A controversial proposal for Internet traffic rules that would allow providers to ration access to their networks is scheduled to come before communications regulators for a vote on Tuesday.

Israel’s policies in West Bank and other districts are depriving Palestinians of basic necessities while providing lavish amenities to Jewish settlements, Rights group says. Human Rights Watch, in a report released on Sunday slammed the Israeli government for what it called, violations of ‘International laws’ and Palestinian Rights. It also demanded a withdrawal from the settlements.

The things the celebrities said this week

Oprah stopped over in Fiji for her Christmas holidays

After a San Francisco Bay Area resident became the first in the United States to receive the delivery of all electric Leaf, Nissan Motors on Saturday carried out its first Leaf delivery in the Seattle region.

Despite mounting international pressure, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe would run in the country’s polls likely to be scheduled for June next year. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) unanimously endorsed him as a candidate for the elections on Saturday. The party cadres, along with their leader, also pledged for a ‘harmonious’ ballot in 2011.

Work hard and play by the rules and you'll get ahead. That's been an article of faith, since at least the birth of this nation, in what has come to be called the American dream..

The U.S. Senate on Saturday voted to repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law, in a move that would pave the way for gays to serve openly in the military.

Republican Congressman Ron Paul, the new head of the subcommittee that oversees the Federal Reserve, said on Sunday he will seek greater transparency but will not be sending subpoenas to the central bank chairman from Day One.

A bid to delist French leather bag maker Hermes shares from the stock exchange has its charm but would be very costly, a family shareholder and top manager said in a newspaper on Sunday.

Inter Milan trampled over TP Mazembe to win the final of the Fifa Club World Cup and in doing so became the first Italian side to collect five major trophies in a calendar year.

India's Tata Group owned Jaguar Land Rover global sales were 79,959 nos. in November 2010, a growth of 6 percent over November 2009.

Just over half of Irish people support a multi-billion euro EU/IMF rescue package but 56 percent believe the country has surrendered its sovereignty by accepting the assistance, a poll published on Saturday said.

A roundup of celebrity reaction on the doing away of DADT

Several Premier League fixtures were decimated by severe weather condition, with the postponement of Sunday's thriller between Chelsea and Manchester United topping the list.

Lawyers appeal against conviction of Snipes based on a juror's claim that there was evidence of mistrial in 2008

'The Dark Tower' series will soon hit the screens as Ron Howard is busy adapting the novels of Stephen King about gunslinger Roland Deshain.

The last shopping weekend before Christmas kicked off with great weather, but not the throngs of shoppers retailers and investors were hoping would clinch a season that has so far beat expectations.

French police have broken up a Marseille-based international doping ring thought to be the biggest in Europe, the government said on Saturday.

Developers and web browser companies are putting out 'Do Not Track' like solutions out there, ahead of possible government regulations.

Bank of America Corp said on Saturday it will not process payments intended for WikiLeaks, which has angered U.S. authorities with the mass release of U.S. diplomatic cables.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Saturday threatened to act against companies from Western countries that have imposed sanctions on his party over suspected election fraud and rights abuses.

Grandparents in the UK are providing more than 6,000 pounds ($9,350) of financial support to grandchildren as parents begin to feel the pinch of government cuts, according to a new study by M&S Money.

Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent President, Laurent Gbagbo's aides have called upon their followers to prepare for a battle against the opposing Alassane Ouattara faction. The country seems to be on the brink of civil war as neither of the both groups refused to stand down.

The angry mob battling the police in their riots gear at the heart of Moscow screamed, Russia for Russians! The slogans spread to the Country's second largest city of St. Petersburg. In rather a dramatic fashion, the death of one Russian football fan sparked riots that soon engulfed the whole of the country. Local media has been reporting that city centers have been shut time and again and roads were frequently blocked, over the past couple of days, following sporadic incidents.

Honda Japan today said that it will start lease sales of the EV-neo electric scooter on December 24, 2010. Designed as urban delivery vehicles, the scooters are seen by Japan's Ministry of Environment as technology development projects for global warming countermeasures.

Five countries said on Saturday the EU's budget should be frozen until 2020, highlighting a new source of policy divisions that could spark a funding battle between the region's western states and their poorer peers in the east.