IBT Staff Reporter

Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, had only months to live when he received a visit from an old friend, Rob Fraley, chief of technology for Monsanto Co.

The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 index made new yearly highs on Wednesday after data showed China industrial output surged and Federal Reserve officials hinted money would remain cheap well into 2010.

Wednesday November 11 is Veterans Day, a day to honor all war victims.

K-Swiss Inc, a maker of athletic shoes, said its board approved a new $70 million repurchase program for Class A shares, replacing its existing buyback plan that expires by year-end.

General Motors Co Chairman Ed Whitacre on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to give the automaker less restrictive pay caps and said it was too early to discuss the timing for the automaker to become a public company again.

Morgan Stanley's Australian real estate unit, Investa Property Group, has abandoned a plan to float some office assets as the offer price did not meet investors' expectations, it said on Wednesday.

Chinese mobile telecoms services firm Umessage is eyeing a Hong Kong or U.S. listing in two years, a top executive at the firm said on Wednesday.

Initial public offerings in Europe are gaining momentum, with three major IPOs set to launch before year-end and about $10 billion that could be raised in the next six months as volatile equity markets calm down.

Japan's greenhouse gas emissions tumbled 6.2 percent last year in a new sign on Wednesday that recession is doing the job of cutting emissions while the world struggles toward a U.N. pact to combat climate change.

Actress Lindsay Lohan was dating actor Heath Ledger when he died in 2008, according to an audio tape published Thursday by Radar Online.com.

Department store operator Macy's Inc forecast earnings for the fourth quarter, which includes the crucial holiday shopping season, far below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, sending shares down 7 percent.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc agreed to buy up to 45 percent of explorer Tullow Oil's licence offshore French Guiana, boosting hopes rich West African oil reservoirs could be replicated across the Atlantic. The companies said in statements on Wednesday that Shell had agreed to purchase 33 percent of the Guyane Maritime Permit, around 150 kilometres off the coast of French Guiana, for an undisclosed sum, and had an option to buy another 12 percent.

Qatar has sold half its Volkswagen preference shares, cashing in on recent gains and raising around 1.5 billion euros ($2.4 billion) for possible future deals.

South Korea may have to offer steep discounts to sell key state assets such as bank stakes, to help cut a growing fiscal deficit, while pumping money into the economy to pull it safely out of a global downturn.

Somali pirates seized a Greek cargo ship and a Yemeni fishing boat in the latest attacks demonstrating their ability to evade international naval forces, gunmen and officials said Wednesday.

Oil rose toward $80 on Wednesday, responding to a 15 month low in the dollar and robust Chinese demand growth and factory output.

U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday as optimism spread after a jump in Chinese factory growth and comments from Federal Reserve officials suggested interest rates would remain low well into 2010.

A man who stabbed a pregnant Egyptian woman to death in a German courtroom in front of her husband and three-year old son was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday, a court spokesman said.

Department store chain Macy's Inc reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday, pointing to strong sales at its Bloomingdale's stores and online.

Logitech said it is buying privately held LifeSize Communications for $405 million, bolstering its position in the much-prized video communication market, which is seen as a key source of future growth.

NATO's secretary-general said on Wednesday he expected the alliance to provide more resources for training Afghan troops and police, but would not comment on exact troop numbers.

The Palestinian president on Wednesday resisted U.S. pressure for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, repeating his demand for a complete halt to West Bank settlement building before negotiations.

The world's largest mobile phone maker Nokia launched three new CDMA phones on Wednesday and said it remained committed to the standard, which has long been overshadowed by the more global GSM.

Former President Bill Clinton visited the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to urge Senate Democrats to quickly pass a broad healthcare overhaul, but a party leader said final action could spill into next year.

A naval skirmish between the two Koreas will not derail the Obama administration's plans to send its first envoy to Pyongyang to revive dormant nuclear talks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.

French and German leaders joined together on Armistice Day for the first time to remember their war dead Wednesday, and pledged to work more closely together as partners in Europe.

The United States and Japan will agree this week to review their decades-old security alliance to tighten ties long term, a Japanese newspaper said Wednesday, as the two countries struggled to keep a feud over a U.S. military base from spoiling their leaders' summit.

John Allen Muhammad was executed on Tuesday for masterminding and carrying out with his teenage accomplice the 2002 sniper shootings that killed 10 people and terrified the Washington, D.C., region a year after the September 11 and the deadly anthrax attacks.

Department store operator Macy's Inc forecast earnings for the critical fourth quarter far below Wall Street expectations, sending shares down 3.4 percent in premarket trading.