IBT Staff Reporter

The last major European country to approve keeping Opel afloat with money backstopped by taxpayers could make a preliminary recommendation on Wednesday affecting as many as 120,000 jobs in Germany alone.

The euro slipped on Wednesday on nagging worries about festering euro zone debt problems despite a $1 trillion rescue package unveiled this week, which fueled a short-lived rally in global stocks.

Hyundai Motor Co has floated plans to enter the high-stakes U.S. pickup truck market and proposed a partnership with Chrysler Group LLC, three people with knowledge of the process said.

General Motors Co is considering options that would give it a captive auto financing arm and allow its dealers to offer more competitive loans and lease deals, two people with knowledge of the plans said.

Global oil prices dropped below $76 a barrel in Asian trade Wednesday mainly on declining market enthusiasm over a huge Eurozone rescue package. Light sweet crude for June delivery was seen trading at $75.84 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude was at $ 80.34 a barrel at the same time in London.

A special board committee of American International Group Inc has hired its own financial adviser, a sign the insurance company is setting plans to repay taxpayers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Countries within the euro zone should implement a new system of cross-border budgetary co-ordination, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund told the Financial Times in an interview.

Japan's Ministry of Finance intends to take advantage of the current low government bond yields to prolong the average maturity of its debt to reduce refunding risks, a senior ministry official said on Wednesday.

Gold is setting its price at historic records even as European nations led by Greece are in the grip of a huge debt crisis. On Tuesday, gold futures on Comex surged to hit a record high of $1,232.50 an ounce. This is the first time in the history of bullion trading that gold has zoomed to touch this level.

A new study suggests that strenuous exercise appears to stop the body's cells from killing themselves as they're programmed to do.

Based on early research on contraceptive for men, University of North Carolina experts believe a blast of ultrasound to the testes can safely stop sperm production for six months.

Tasmania - Asbestos contamination in an abandoned hospital at Queenstown have raised some concerns from its residents.

A Canadian man pleaded guilty to illegally using the wires to transmit bets and wagering information in connection with an alleged $350 million Internet gambling scheme, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said.

The top securities regulator said no single event had been found to explain Thursday's mysterious market plunge, but the shocking drop was unacceptable and additional safeguards were coming.

AHMEDABAD: An 83-year-old Indian holy man who says he has spent 65 years without food or water has astounded a team of military doctors who studied him during a two-week observation.

The top securities regulator said no single event had been found to explain Thursday's mysterious market plunge, but the shocking drop was unacceptable and additional safeguards were coming.

The Australian Dollar has opened weaker this morning following a raft of news releases overnight across the globe.

Janet Wiles, a cognitive scientist and co-author of The Memory Book: Everyday Habits for a Healthy Memory says that physical activities make new brain cells.

The Senate on Tuesday challenged the Federal Reserve's tradition of secrecy but postponed an overhaul of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under a massive reform of banking regulations.

According to the Heart Foundation, chocolate consumption or wine drinking does not offer any real cardiovascular health benefit.

The increase in the number of commercial breast imaging services, along with marketing tactics to promote them as non-invasive, safe and comfortable have raised concerns of the West Australian Cancer Council.

Microsoft Corp launches an updated version of its Office software on Wednesday, aiming to keep its grip on the hugely profitable business application market while countering the challenge of free online alternatives from Google Inc.

The WA Country Health Service is now investigating the breach of infection control procedure by an anaesthetist who treated 250 patients at hospitals across the state's north west.

Mental health has been called to be put highest priority in the national health and political agenda, by one of Australia's largest churches, Wesley Mission, following the findings of recent research stating 77 per cent of people in NSW have either experienced mental illness or knew someone who had.

The Department for Child Protection - under the new radical government policy - will seize babies from unfit mothers before they are even born.

Intel Corp expects annual earnings growth to double over the next few years, bolstered by an expected 15 percent to 16 percent expansion in the global personal computer market.

The largest U.S. banks would have to come up with plans for regulators to dismantle them in times of severe distress, under a new rule proposed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp on Tuesday.

Fat finger has company.The initial theory that an errant trader caused Thursday's mysterious stock market plunge isn't the only dubious hypothesis making the rounds.

The Australian dollar rallied against the US during Asia despite data showing a decline in business confidence and job advertisements.