IBT Staff Reporter

Auto sales in the United States and Europe slumped in August, reflecting the end of government subsidies that had propped up demand and underscoring uncertainty about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

A team of international researchers have found that patients with a certain DNA variant affecting regulation of a particular brain chemical have a greater risk of developing migraines.

The re-release of Avatar, the sci-fi epic by acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron, is reported to be a flop at the US box office. Cameron's 3-D special edition of Avatar, which included an extra nine minutes of footage, failed to draw cinemagoers. The film pulled up merely $4 million.

India added Google and Skype to its electronic security crackdown on Wednesday and began accessing some of the traffic carried on its initial target, Research In Motion's BlackBerry.

The dreaded H1N1 virus or swine flu that took the form of pandemic last year around the globe has not mutated to a lethal form this year.

Three bombs exploded at a Shi'ite procession in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and wounding over 100, piling pressure on a government already overwhelmed by floods.

Auto sales in the United States and Europe slumped in August, reflecting the end of government sales subsidies and underscoring uncertainty about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

U.S. communications regulators said on Wednesday they are considering whether wireless devices should be subject to different Internet traffic rules than telephone and cable lines, in a potential victory for carriers.

The curtain raiser for the Venice Film Festival is the 41-year-old American director Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. A psychological thriller, it is set in the highly competitive Ballet world in New York. Aronofsky has won an award in the 3008 festival for the Mickey Rourke starrer The Wrestler.

Apple Inc has introduced a new version of Apple TV that allows audiences to rent series such as Glee and Modern Family for 99 cents, hoping to extend the popularity of its sleek devices to the living room.

Teenage singing star Justin Bieber wants to star in the remake the 1978 musical hit Grease along with Miley Cyrus and Susan Boyle. Susan Boyle is the singing sensation from the reality show UK's got Talent.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is committed to keeping the price of money low until the economic recovery strengthens, but should not do more to boost growth without fiscal and regulatory policies that support businesses, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

Officials appeared to have made a policy decision not to bail out Lehman Brothers, the head of a panel investigating the financial crisis said on Wednesday, challenging the view of regulators that they had no legal authority to help.

The Federal Reserve should only embark upon further monetary easing if faced with a dangerous downward price spiral, otherwise it risks undermining its credibility, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

Citigroup's private banking arm has set up a global unit to target family offices, organisations that manage the financial affairs of rich dynasties, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

A former hedge fund manager has been accused by a U.S. regulator of illegal insider trading in MedImmune Inc securities prior to the acquisition of the pharmaceutical company by Britain's AstraZeneca Plc.

Auto sales in the United States and Europe slumped in August, reflecting the end of government sales subsidies and underscoring uncertainty about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

A manufacturing rebound in China and stronger-than-expected U.S. factory data spurred a jump in equity and commodity prices worldwide on Wednesday, helping start the month on a bright note after a gloomy August.

General Electric Co could spend up to $30 billion on takeovers over the next two to three years, a top executive said, in a sign the conglomerate is coming out of its recessionary defensive crouch.

Former prime minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday he could have not have imagined what he called the nightmare that unfolded in Iraq but still did not regret joining the U.S.-led invasion.

Visitors and some residents evacuated from low-lying vacation islands off the North Carolina coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Earl bore down on the U.S. eastern seaboard, churning up dangerous swells.

Burger King Holdings Inc has been considering a possible sale and has held talks with potential buyers, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday, lifting its shares 18.5 percent.

Allergan Inc has agreed to plead guilty and pay $600 million to resolve a federal probe of its marketing practices for the injectable wrinkle smoother Botox, the company and the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Wall Street rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday and was set to record its best day in eight weeks as U.S. and Asian economic data soothed worries about a global economic slowdown.

Asian auto sales soared in August, boosted by government incentives although U.S. economic uncertainty and slowing growth in China look set to curb demand, while in Europe car sales fell as scrapping bonuses ran out.

Burger King Holdings Inc is in advanced talks to sell itself to investment firm 3G Capital, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, boosting shares 15 percent.

U.S. bank regulators pinned their hopes on Wednesday on new powers to avert another round of bailouts should crisis strike the handful of mega-firms now even larger than those previously considered too big to fail.

Michael Wei and Lucy HornbyChina may launch an antimonopoly probe into BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid for Canada's Potash Corp, the China Business News said on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Media stocks gained more than the market in early trading on Wednesday ahead of details of a new online TV product announcement expected from Apple Inc later in the day.