IBT Staff Reporter

Oil edged above $71 a barrel on Wednesday after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell more than expected last week, but higher inventories of gasoline and winter fuel capped gains.

Brazilian real estate developer PDG Realty plans a primary offering of 56 million new shares to raise an estimated 775.6 million reais ($430 million), the company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Japan's NEC Electronics Corp will absorb Renesas Technology Corp after raising a total 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) from their parent firms, which could smooth the way for the government to also extend aid to the loss-making chipmakers.

Medical products maker Baxter International Inc said on Wednesday it expects to increase annual profits 11 percent to 13 percent on average over the next five years, even as it boosts investment into research.

Carlyle Group and Taiwan Mobile struck a $1 billion deal on Wednesday, with Carlyle taking a big chunk of the telecommunications group in a sign the private equity firm has faith in the island's economy.

Telecommunications service provider Level 3 Communications Inc's CEO said on Wednesday the company was looking to invest in its network in response to growing Internet traffic but that improving its balance sheet was still the top priority.

Greed -- not green -- drives sales of small, environmentally friendly cars, a top industry executive said on Tuesday.

Russian regional fixed-to-mobile telecom operator UralSvyazInform said on Wednesday its first-half net profit fell 2 percent due to higher financial expenses and foreign exchange losses.

Automakers would be required to gradually increase fuel efficiency under a landmark U.S. government proposal that raises the fleet-wide average to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 and regulates tailpipe emissions for the first time.

Indian state-run telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has bid for Millicom's Sri Lankan operations, the chairman of the Indian firm said on Wednesday.

Japan's NEC Electronics Corp will absorb Renesas Technology Corp after raising a total 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) from their parent firms, which could smooth the way for the government to also extend aid to the loss-making chipmakers.

Imagine a light switch or a book that appears only when you need it -- Japanese scientists are one step closer to making the stuff of sci-fi films into reality after creating a hologram that can also be felt.

The European car industry could face a further shake-up with Asian companies pouncing on the chance to buy assets as China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings has done with Swedish car maker Saab.

China's domestically developed 3G mobile network standard must eventually expand overseas to be successful, one of many hurdles for the commercially untested technology, said the International Telecoms Union (ITU) on Wednesday.

Canadian manufacturing sales rose in July at their fastest pace in 12 years after some automakers switched assembly lines back on after extended shutdowns and demand for primary metals rose sharply.

Italy's Fiat (FIA.MI) can reach its target of selling between 5.5 and 6 million vehicles with Chrysler alone but the group still considers renewal of Italy's car sale incentives as vital.

Magyar Telekom will lay off 400 workers at a cost of about 7 billion forints ($37.04 million) in severance payments, the brunt of which it expects to incur in the fourth quarter, the company said on Wednesday.

Nokia is seeing large interest towards its new top-of-the-range model N900, a key product for the world's top phone maker, a senior company official said on Wednesday.

The world will face a global health catastrophe if governments fail to agree deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions as part of a U.N. pact in Copenhagen in December, several leading doctors have declared.

An international goal to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius appears unreachable even if China embarks on a vast effort to tame its growing greenhouse gas emissions, a Beijing think-tank has said.

Two Pct Growth in Coming Quarters; U.S. Prices Rise; Chrysler's Plans

Zach Galifianakis, a co-star of the summer smash The Hangover, is in negotiations to join Emma Roberts in It's Kind of a Funny Story, a coming-of-age comedy-drama from the duo behind Half Nelson.

Facebook is making enough money to cover its costs and now has 300 million users, the world's largest social networking site said on Tuesday, proving the Internet's newest star industry can be a viable business.

Intel has slashed the power consumption of its new Moorestown chip platforms for mobile devices, a big boost for its efforts to grab a slice of a booming market for chips in cell phones and other consumer electronics.

David Henrie of the Emmy-winning Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place will pair with Platinum Studios to develop its comic book series, The Weapon, into a feature film he'd star in.

CombiMatrix Corp said it engaged Robert W. Baird as its financial and strategic adviser to help develop and review strategies aimed at unlocking shareholder value.

Bond girl Eva Green turns up at a British girls boarding school as a free-spirited teacher who isn't all she's cracked up to be in the erotically-laced period drama, Cracks.

Is melanoma, a potentially deadly form of skin cancer, on the rise, as is often reported? Maybe not, says a new study: The melanoma epidemic may simply represent a change in how doctors are diagnosing the disease.

Calpine Corp's 724-megawatt Pastoria natural gas-fired power station in California returned to service by Tuesday afternoon, the California Independent System Operator said in a report.