IBT Staff Reporter

The teacup pigs were featured this morning on NBC's Today Show because of its growing demand from people including from celebrities who want them as their pets.

President Barack Obama told congressional leaders on Tuesday his decision on a new Afghan war strategy would not make everyone happy, while Republicans urged him to heed his military commander's call for more troops.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that some countries had offered to provide Iran with uranium enriched to 20 percent for use as nuclear reactor fuel, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The United States came under pressure to show leadership in U.N. climate talks on Wednesday with Mexico saying its neighbor is a stumbling block in efforts to try to craft a tough global climate agreement by December.

Canada's Nortel Networks said on Wednesday it has agreed to a stalking horse offer from U.S. network specialist Ciena Corp to buy its optical networking and Internet infrastructure businesses for $521 million.

Swiss authorities rejected an appeal on Tuesday to release from jail Roman Polanski, the film director arrested last month after fleeing the United States in 1978 to avoid sentencing in an underage sex case.

British bank Barclays could acquire a wealth management business at least the size of Julius Baer to meet its target of ranking in the top five private banks globally, Barclays Wealth's vice chairman said on Wednesday.

The Afghan Taliban pose no threat to the West but will continue their fight against occupying foreign forces, they said on Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that removed them from power.

Keep Supporting, says Hoenig; Retailers Results Beat Views; Mortgage Apps Up Again

U.S. mortgage applications surged last week to their highest since mid-May as consumers sought to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in months, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Oil prices rose for the third straight day on Wednesday, to about $71 a barrel, after an industry report showed a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories and gave support to the view that demand was recovering.

Toshiba Corp said on Wednesday it would appeal against a ruling by the European Commission that the Japanese electronics maker had participated in a power transformer cartel.

Economist Joseph Stiglitz on Tuesday questioned the trustworthiness of a key European Union government test to measure the health of the banking industry.

Family Dollar Stores Inc reported a 13 percent rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday, topping Wall Street estimates, as frugal shoppers scoured its stores for low prices.

News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has held talks with Japanese and South Korean firms, possibly sounding out potential partners to rival Amazon.com Inc's Kindle electronic reader, sources said.

Family Dollar Stores Inc and Costco Wholesale Corp both reported better-than-expected quarterly profits on Wednesday and said sales improved in September from preceding months, boosting investor confidence in the discount retail sector.

British author Hilary Mantel is working on a sequel to Wolf Hall, her 650-page novel about Henry VIII's adviser Thomas Cromwell which won the coveted Man Booker Prize for fiction late Tuesday.

The David Letterman extortion affair and sex scandal is proving a late night ratings bonanza for TV network CBS.

In a patriotic costume of red and white stripes, former Republican congressman turned TV celebrity Tom DeLay bowed out of hit U.S. television contest Dancing With the Stars Tuesday night, suffering from stress fractures in both feet.

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.

Family Dollar Stores Inc reported a 13 percent rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday, topping Wall Street estimates, as frugal shoppers scoured its stores for low prices.

Stocks were set to open lower on Wednesday after two days of strong gains, as investors await the unofficial beginning of the earnings season.

Financial institutions borrowed $25 billion for 70-days from the Federal Reserve this week as groups continue to advantage of a program to ease credit worries by injecting money into the economy.

Gold's run to a record $1,048.20 per ounce on Wednesday was greeted cautiously by consumers in Asia and the Middle East, with some cashing in gains while the majority were hanging on for further rises.

Exelon Corp's 867-megawatt Unit 3 at the Dresden nuclear power station in Illinois started to exit an outage and ramped up to 15 percent power by early Wednesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

Microsoft's release of its new Windows 7 operating system is expected to increase demand for personal computers only slightly, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told journalists in Munich on Wednesday.

Stock futures turned negative ahead of the open on Wednesday after a two-day run-up , as investors paused before the start of the quarterly earnings season.

Auto sales in Vietnam surged 104 percent in September from a year earlier to 11,071 units after a 31 percent increase in August, an industry report said on Wednesday.

French car maker Renault (RENA.PA) is looking to replace its Indian partner Mahindra & Mahindra (MAHM.BO) in their struggling Logan joint venture, the Economic Times said on Wednesday, a report refuted by the French firm.