IBT Staff Reporter

Leading chemicals and biotech seed developer Monsanto Co reported a higher fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday, though results slightly beat Wall Street estimates, as a downturn in its herbicide business ate into revenues.

The $8 billion initial public offering by the Brazilian unit of Spanish bank Banco Santander on Tuesday was the latest multibillion-dollar deal as the global market for IPOs continues to recover.

A powerful typhoon approached Japan's main islands Wednesday, closing car factories, disrupting flights and threatening heavily populated industrial centers with torrential rain and strong winds.

Western drugmakers are stepping up the hunt for emerging market tigers in India.

Ashley A.J. Jewell, the former fiancé of Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss did not die immediately after the fight outside a strip club in Atlanta. He was walking and talking after the fight and took a ride with a friend to the hospital; according to celebrities' blogging site TMZ.com.

Global warming poses more of a threat to U.S. farm incomes than does the climate change bill passed by the U.S. House, which will have a negligible impact on American agriculture's bottom line, an environmental group said on Wednesday

Britons remain opposed to the war in Afghanistan but the level of opposition has not risen much over the past three years despite a rapidly rising death toll, a poll for the BBC showed Wednesday.

Mammoth IPOs by the Brazilian unit of Spanish bank Banco Santander and U.S. risk specialist Verisk Analytics Inc raised nearly $10 billion on Tuesday, almost twice the amount raised by U.S.-listed IPOs in 2009.

Dell Inc is offering computers with Major League Baseball logos and nail polish colors, the computer's latest effort to target its PCs at specific consumer segments.

HSBC Holdings Plc is in advanced discussions to acquire the banking assets of Royal Bank of Scotland in three Asian countries, the Wall Street Journal online reported on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah flew to Syria on Wednesday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad aimed at healing a rift that has aggravated Arab discord over Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Lebanon.

Iran accused the United States on Wednesday of involvement in the disappearance of a technology university researcher, Iranian media reported.

Stocks edged lower on Wednesday, as investors awaited proof that corporate earnings will support recent strong gains.

Ustad Abdul Fattah once made jewelry in Afghanistan's royal studio, developing a lifetime of skills that went to waste in a country plunged into war after the king was toppled in 1973.

Turkish police fired tear gas and used water cannon for a second day to break up protests in Istanbul against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Wednesday.

Canada's prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize announced its short list of finalists on Tuesday, after reviewing 96 books submitted from across the country.

A prominent al Qaeda militant urged Uighurs in Xianjiang to make serious preparations for a holy war against oppressive China and called on fellow Muslims to offer support.

The skeleton of a sperm whale is competing with the brain of a cow for this year's Turner Prize, Britain 's annual competition of contemporary art that regularly triggers debate about what is art and what is not.

Detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi met a high-level official in Myanmar's military-ruled government for a second time in a week following her offer to lobby the West to lift sanctions.

Relief workers struggled to reach Indonesian quake survivors still without food or shelter a week after the disaster, while foreign rescue teams packed up their high-tech equipment on Wednesday and prepared to pull out.

Demand for Chinese paintings was firm but mixed at Sotheby's Asia sales in Hong Kong on Tuesday, with quality pieces and traditional, more classical paintings trumping the contemporary art market which remains fragile.

Italy was awaiting a court decision which could emerge Wednesday on whether a law granting Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity violates the constitution.

Pakistan's army on Wednesday expressed serious concern about a U.S. aid bill that critics say contains conditions that amount to a humiliating violation of sovereignty as parliament began a debate on the U.S. aid.

A German publisher said Tuesday it had canceled the printing of a murder mystery about an honor killing because it contained passages insulting Islam and may have prompted Islamist retaliation.

Russia sees a redrafted U.S. anti-missile shield plan as less of a security threat than the previously proposed project, Russian agencies said Wednesday, which should ease tensions between the two powers.

Unemployment is the top U.S. economic political priority, a leading pollster said on Wednesday.

Companies that use derivatives to hedge their risk are set to make a last-ditch effort on Wednesday to persuade Congress to weaken legislation regulating the opaque $450-trillion private swaps market.

New Line is going on a Vacation. The Warner Bros. division is developing a sequel of sorts to the 1983 comedy classic, with Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin attached to produce and possibly direct.

Adrien Brody will star in Robert Rodriguez's Predators, a reboot of the sci-fi franchise.