IBT Staff Reporter

Fillippa Hamilton, a size 4 model who worked for Ralph Lauren, was fired after the fashion designer suggested she was too fat.

The Dow industrials pierced the 10,000 level on Wednesday for the first time in a year on surprisingly robust company results and better-than-expected retail sales.

The role of Porgy, the crippled beggar in Porgy and Bess, has always been hard to pull off as he changes from grump to lover, but a Cape Town Opera version opening in Britain this month sets him a Herculean challenge:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested on Wednesday that China, Central Asian nations and Russia should hold a song competition to boost cultural ties.

The People Magazine revealed new photos of Jaycee Duguard Wednesday who was kidnapped outside her home in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., in November 1991.

American actress Megan Fox will strip down to her underwear for Giorgio Armani's Emporio Armani fashion brand, the Italian design house said on Wednesday.

Paul Stanley surveys his home high in the hills overlooking Los Angeles and proudly dubs it the house that bad reviews built.

Apple may be on the verge of launching a new iPhone and iTouch radio application that will allow users to listen to FM radio, according to rumors that have leaked online.

Federal Reserve policy-makers last month discussed whether they should increase asset buying if the economic outlook worsened and some argued that more aggressive purchases would aid the recovery.

Wes Anderson's animation movie Fantastic Mr. Fox, starring George Clooney as the voice of the eponymous hero, got its world premiere on Wednesday on the opening night of the London film festival.

The Backstreet Boys began as a group of wide-eyed teenagers but 16 years later, after battles with drug addiction and the loss of loved ones, believe their seventh album shows they have matured.

Barnes & Noble's rumored e-book reader is closer to becoming a reality after photos leaked online today.

Two former Bear Stearns Cos managers whose hedge funds collapsed early in the financial crisis lied to investors to save their bonuses and reputation, a U.S. prosecutor said in an opening statement at their trial Wednesday on fraud charges.

JPMorgan Chase & Co's robust $3.6 billion quarterly profit could prove a tough act for rivals to follow as its investment bank capitalized on the disappearance of some rivals and the weakness of others.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, LP said Wednesday its natural gas storage facilities in the U.S. Southeast were at or near full capacity.

The Dow industrials pierced the 10,000 level on Wednesday for the first time in a year on surprisingly robust company results and better-than-expected retail sales.

The number of so-called problem banks and bank failures will remain high for the next several quarters, and the economic recovery may not be as robust as in past cycles, a top U.S. bank regulator said on Wednesday.

U.S. Federal Reserve policy-makers last month discussed the importance of retaining the flexibility to increase or scale back their asset purchases if the economic outlook changed, the Fed said on Wednesday.

U.S. retail sales excluding those for autos rose for a second month in September, raising cautious optimism consumer spending could support the economy's fledgling recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s.

Lazard Ltd Chief Executive Bruce Wasserstein has died, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited two people familiar with the matter.

Pfizer Inc won U.S. and Canadian antitrust approval to buy smaller rival Wyeth on Wednesday, and will close the $66 billion deal this week, the world's largest drugmaker said.

Dow Breaks Through; Fines for Airlines; Cheap Mobile

Two former Bear Stearns Cos managers whose hedge funds collapsed early in the financial crisis lied to investors to save their bonuses and reputations, a U.S. prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Calpers said it was probing the fees outside money managers had been paying to win business with the largest U.S. pension fund, adding a new dimension to a wider review of so-called pay-to-play schemes.

The funeral of late Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, who died on the Spanish island of Majorca over the weekend, will be held in Dublin on Saturday, his bandmates said on their website on Wednesday.

Skype's founders have asked a U.S. federal court to prevent Index Ventures and one of its partners from further participating in the proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of the Web phone service, according to a court filing on Wednesday.

Oil rose above $75 a barrel to settle at a record high for the year on Wednesday as economic optimism hinted at a recovery in global energy demand.

Two victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, seeking at least the $2.4 million they lost in the fraud.

The Dow industrials broke through the 10,000 level on Wednesday for the first time in a year on better-than-expected company results and U.S. retail sales data.