IBT Staff Reporter

Britain's fraud office said on Thursday it aimed to prosecute Europe's biggest defense contractor, BAE Systems, for bribery, but lawyers said an out-of-court settlement remained the most likely outcome.

Manufacturers saw more new orders and production in September albeit at a slower rate than August, according the chair of the private Institute for Supply Management.

U.S. stocks fell further on Thursday as data showed the manufacturing sector grew in September at a slower pace than anticipated and weighed on investor sentiment.

Internet auction site eBay stopped a 10-year-old girl's attempt to auction off her moaning granny online.

In an ongoing attempt to compete with Google, Apple bought small mapping company Placebase over the summer in a deal that went unnoticed until this week

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes rose sharply in August, for a seventh consecutive month of gains, reaching the highest since March 2007, data from a real estate trade group showed on Thursday.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform an entire album from their back catalog each night of the five-night run at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in October, the group announced late Monday night.

A federal judge said Bank of America Corp may pursue a lawsuit accusing former Bear Stearns Cos managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin of lying in an attempt to prop up two failing hedge funds.

The once controversial Wolfgang's Vault, which has amassed the largest collection of licensed streaming live recordings on the Internet, is about to make a treasure trove of those concerts available for downloading.

Activity in global capital markets may be flat or even lower next year as the world economy struggles to pull out of recession, according to a survey released Thursday by RBC Capital Markets.

Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE) Czech unit, Skoda Auto, is considering halting production for two days in October after demand fell following the end of a scrappage subsidy in Germany, a spokesman said on Thursday.

A Muslim, a Catholic and an agnostic composer have contributed music to an album featuring Pope Benedict singing and reciting prayers, which is due for release in November.

Rescue teams struggled on Thursday to reach scores of people trapped under debris and survivors pleaded for aid after a powerful quake hit the Indonesian city of Padang, possibly killing thousands.

Government funds propped up an ailing European auto industry in September, in contrast to an expected slump in sales in the United States after its cash for clunkers scheme ran out of money.

Talks between Canadian automotive group Magna, General Motors and workers at German carmaker Opel were adjourned with no result on Thursday and will resume soon, a spokesman for Opel said.

John C. Reilly is joining Ed Helms in the road-trip comedy Cedar Rapids.

Jessica Alba is becoming a Focker.

Contrary to how tabloids portray the actress, Megan Fox says she is really not wild and crazy and instead has a subdued life and rarely leaves her house.

U.S. stocks dipped more than 1 percent on Thursday after the latest jobs and manufacturing data sparked worries about the pace of economic recovery, with technology shares leading losses.

Rather than throwing that bag or hosepipe into the recycle bin, how about turning it into a belt or a shower curtain, joining a growing band of upcyclers?

Ameriprise Financial Inc's purchase of an asset management business from Bank of America Corp contains a key feature -- access to the bank's massive distribution system.

NextEra Energy Resources LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group Inc (FPL.N), shut the 1,245-megawatt Seabrook nuclear power station in New Hampshire on Oct. 1 for a planned refueling and maintenance outage, a spokesman for the plant said.

The London Stock Exchange said it has entered into exclusive talks with low-cost trading platform Turquoise Trading Ltd., as rising competition forces trading houses to consolidate.

Nike Inc on Thursday denied it has an endorsement deal with Michael Vick more than two years after dumping the National Football League quarterback following his arrest for bankrolling a dog-fighting ring. Nike said it was only supplying gear for Vick as it does with many athletes. In such deals, Nike does not pay the athlete.

A Turkish student threw a shoe at International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Thursday as he made a speech to students in Istanbul ahead of the IMF's annual meeting.

More unemployed workers filed for temporary government insurance protection last week, with the total initial claims rising by 17,000 to 551,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

China's National Day military parade held no big surprises but there were tantalizing clues for experts assessing the modernization of the world's biggest fighting force.

The head of the Federal Reserve and a key U.S. lawmaker on Thursday backed away from a controversial provision of the Obama administration's financial regulation reform plan, saying new oversight by the Fed on systemic risk should be shared with other regulators.

Millions of people were battling on Thursday to cope with the aftermath of a typhoon that cut a destructive path through parts of Southeast Asia, killing 400, as an even stronger storm headed toward the Philippines.