IBT Staff Reporter

The Obama administration's new proposal for tackling financial risk in the U.S. economy, unveiled just two days ago, came under attack on Thursday from all sides, with critics targeting its funding and scope.

The Wall Street Journal will close its Boston bureau to save money, and shift coverage of the mutual fund industry to its money and investing reporting team, the newspaper's editor said on Thursday.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, helping the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq halt a four-day rout, as data showing that the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter buoyed hopes of a recovery in profits.

Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen said business remained tough after third-quarter earnings plunged on Thursday, while Japan's Mazda predicted a smaller full-year operating loss.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed into law a $33.5 billion spending bill to fund government energy and water programs for the 2010 budget year that began October 1.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is now catering to its shoppers' needs from cradle to grave.

Sprint Nextel Corp reported a wider quarterly loss and a 9 percent revenue decline, but its success in slowing the loss of the most valuable wireless subscribers took some of the sting out of the results.

Procter & Gamble Co blew past profit forecasts on Thursday as sales started to rebound, pleasing investors who were eager to see whether the new chief executive's efforts to win back shoppers were paying off.

More than 5,500 children across Africa have been given an experimental new malaria vaccine and the British drugmaker behind it, GlaxoSmithKline, promised on Wednesday that price would be no hurdle if it works.

Motorola Inc forecast a higher-than-expected profit for the current quarter, when it will start selling two new Google Android phones in hopes of regaining ground lost to iPhone.

People on the brink of developing diabetes who get a lot of support and encouragement to diet and exercise can turn things around and avoid the disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

People who have a compulsive urge to collect and clutter their homes with junk can partly attribute their problem to genes, a new study confirms.

Drugmakers say they are on track to deliver as much H1N1 swine flu vaccine to the United States as they promised, despite concerns over production.

Men with larger foreskins are more likely to become infected with the AIDS virus, researchers said Wednesday in a finding that helps explain why circumcision can protect men.

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives released a healthcare reform bill on Thursday that includes a government-run insurance plan and imposes a tax on the wealthiest Americans to help pay for it.

U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday following four losing sessions as data showed the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter after more than a year of contraction.

India is withdrawing about 15,000 soldiers from Jammu and Kashmir, a military official said Thursday, in a move aimed at boosting prospects of peace talks with the disputed region's separatist groups.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has invited reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for a visit as Pyongyang has reached out to its foes and signalled it could return to dormant nuclear talks hosted by Beijing.

Somali pirates holding two Britons captive in the Indian Ocean have transferred them to another vessel and said on Thursday that they planned to keep them onboard off the Somali mainland.

The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in more than a year as government stimulus helped lift consumer spending and home building, fuelling an unexpectedly strong advance.

Afghanistan laid out plans for the November 7 run-off presidential vote on Thursday in an announcement criticized as insufficient to prevent fraud, a day after a Taliban attack on U.N. staff reinforced concerns about security.

U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday after data showed the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the last quarter, soothing recent jitters that the recovery would be anemic.

Iran formally responded to a U.N. draft nuclear fuel deal on Thursday, proposing big changes that could sink the plan, including sending its low-enriched uranium abroad in stages instead of all at once, Iranian media reported.

Official end to Recession; Economic Roundup; Less Profitability at Exxon

Procter & Gamble Co and Colgate-Palmolive Co posted higher-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings on Thursday, as efforts to lure consumers back to their brand-name household goods start to pay off.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas when she travels to the Middle East this weekend, a U.S. official said.

Democrats in the House of Representatives finished work on Wednesday on a healthcare bill that includes a government-run insurance plan, requires individuals to buy health coverage and imposes a surtax on the wealthy to help pay for it.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dipped by 1,000 last week, while the number collecting long-term aid fell to the lowest reading in seven months as the job market steadied.

President Barack Obama saw first hand the human cost of the Afghanistan war as he welcomed home on Thursday 18 soldiers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents killed in Afghanistan this week.