IBT Staff Reporter

Dutch bancassurer ING Groep NV returned to profitability after nearly 5 billion euros ($7.1 billion) of losses in the previous three quarters, but the profit was well below expectations as real estate writedowns drove the banking business to a surprise loss.

Australia said on Wednesday that charges against four staff from Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto appeared to have been downgraded after China formally arrested the men but left aside accusations they stole state secrets.

Britain's Lloyds said on Wednesday it would sell the bulk of its Insight Investment unit to Bank of New York Mellon for 235 million pounds ($386 million) as part of a shake-up of its asset management units.

Uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's view on the U.S. economy and another sharp fall in Chinese stocks pushed equities lower across the world on Wednesday and drove lower-yielding currencies higher.

The Federal Reserve is expected to give a nod to signs the U.S. recession is waning but will likely warn that the recovery will be slow and dampen any expectations it will soon start to raise interest rates.

Lloyds Banking Group said it will sell its Insight Investment unit to Bank of New York Mellon for 235 million pounds ($386.2 million), following the completion of a strategic review of its asset management business.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after a prominent banking analyst warned the sector's fundamentals have yet to improve, and an unexpectedly large drop in wholesale inventories raised worries about an economic recovery.

Asian shares sagged on Wednesday after losses on Wall Street and as investors locked in profits as they waited to hear what the U.S. Federal Reserve would say about prospects for recovery in the world's largest economy.

BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc , the world's largest miner, reported a 30 percent slide in annual profit excluding writedowns, its first fall in seven years, pummeled by a slump in metals prices and demand.

Children are using the Internet to watch YouTube videos, connect with friends on social network sites and look up sex and porn, according to a study of the top Web searches by youngsters.

Trump Entertainment Resorts' bondholders filed a motion Tuesday rejecting Donald Trump's plan to revamp the bankrupt casino company and are vying to submit a rival reorganization plan that offers them greater recovery.

The 16-year-old Disney starlet Miley Cyrus performed her hit new song

The final results of Michael Jackson's death have been completed but remain sealed while police continue their investigation.

Despite a relatively upbeat NAB survey on business conditions the Aussie dollar retreated from its intraday highs at 0.8380 in Asia yesterday dropping to a low of 0.8320 with the market questioning the sustainability of the recent rally in equities.

Bernard Madoff's long-time deputy, Frank DiPascali, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to financial crimes including helping others carry out Wall Street's biggest investment fraud, but shed little more light in court on the decades-long swindle.

Red hot auto sales under the U.S. government's cash for clunkers incentive began to cool as dealer inventories tightened and showroom traffic showed signs of leveling off from its frantic pace of a week ago.

The CW is again diving into text-message shorthand for its latest provocative ad campaign.

Eclectic rocker Neil Young, who has made no secret of his disdain for the Grammys in the past, is receiving a humanitarian award from the group that hands out the music industry's top honors.

As enrolment is approaching this fall, students are readying and preparing their school stuff such as bag, pens, notebooks and laptop. This stuff that students prepared are use to take note from the class which soon serve as a reviewer for the students. However tedious effort must be done to save all necessary notes in a class especially when the professor is talking. The next generations Pulse Smartpen from Livescribe simplify the note taking life of students.

Director Hayao Miyazaki is considered a master of animation in his native Japan, and when Disney releases his latest movie

After performing in more than 30 countries, ballroom dance company

General Motors Co GM.UL has no intention of reopening the sale process for its European Opel operations and remains intent on reaching a deal with one of the two remaining bidders as quickly as possible.

One-time Broadway impresario Garth Drabinsky was sentenced to seven years in jail on Wednesday and business partner Myron Gottlieb got six for their roles in a half-billion-dollar fraud in the 1990s at their theatre production company, Livent, Canadian media reported.

London's theatres are booming despite the recession as audiences are boosted by the trend for cash-strapped Britons to holiday at home.

Shakespeare, 18 years on death row in a Pakistani jail, and a famously alcoholic writer are just a few of the serious dramas that balance the zany comedy shows at this year's 63rd Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Focus Features will finance, produce and distribute the next film from the writer-director team behind the 2006 drama

Every winter, an ice road is laid across 400 km (250 miles) of tundra to carry supplies to one of the world's most isolated gold mines.