IBT Staff Reporter

The orbiting Kepler telescope has spotted a Jupiter-sized planet around another star -- a sighting that demonstrates it can see Earth-like planets if they are out there, scientists reported on Thursday.

The latest action franchise seemingly designed to further spread the incidence of ADD among youth the world over, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra plays like a sequel to a film that was never made.

At scattered events across the United States, protesters are confronting members of Congress whose summer town hall meetings aim to get a sense of how Americans feel about overhauling healthcare.

North American business groups urged leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada on Friday to rein in buy local provisions they called a threat to free trade and economic growth.

With so-called flash orders exploding into public view, investors are wondering if the rapid-fire dissemination of their investing intentions is costing them money.

Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of U.S. home mortgage funding, on Friday posted its first quarterly profit in two years as gains from hedges and a one-time accounting change offset still-lofty credit losses.

Psychopaths who kill and rape have faulty connections between the part of the brain dealing with emotions and that which handles impulses and decision-making, scientists have found.

The longest U.S. recession since World War Two is exposing gaping holes in the social safety net, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of falling through.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of assassinated President John F. Kennedy and a champion of the rights of the mentally impaired, is hospitalized in critical but stable condition, a hospital official said on Friday.

A prominent technology analyst predicted that Apple Inc. would release a tablet or mini-computer for sale early next year, and that it could boost the consumer electronics company's revenue by 3 percent in 2010. Gene Munster, a Piper Jaffray analyst said the tablet from Apple will look like an iPod Touch, but a bit larger.

Chinese police are investigating a bootcamp for Internet addicts after a teenage boy died, apparently following a severe beating, just hours after checking in, the official Xinhua news agency said late on Wednesday.

Former Madoff chief financial officer, Frank DiPascali, will be charged by the U.S. for his participation in what is termed Wall Street's biggest investment fraud.

Michael Jackson had taken a lethal amount of the anesthetic propofol and Xanax , according to the toxicology report, the TMZ.com reported Friday.

Averill came to me, as many candidates do, with the goal of differentiating her candidacy. She had recently returned to school to secure a medical billing and coding certificate after serving in the retail

Mortgage financier on Friday reported its first quarterly profit in two years causing its shares to surge 26 percent in after hours trading. as higher interest income and gains on its hedges offset still-lofty credit losses. For the latest quarter, Freddie Mac reported a profit of $768 million compared with a year-earlier loss of $821 million. The results include $2.2 billion of securities write-downs that were more than offset by $4.2 billion in gains on the company's derivative portfolio.

Currency speculators increased their bets against the dollar in the latest week, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

Senator Mel Martinez, a native Cuban and a former chairman of the Republican Party, stunned supporters on Friday by informing them that he plans to resign from Congress, party aides said.

Investors heartened, Obama's 'true recovery,' Employers cutting less jobs

Global Swiss bank UBS AG failed to settle U.S. charges of helping wealthy American customers dodge taxes, setting the stage for at least another five days of tense negotiations over a case that goes to the heart of Switzerland's famed bank secrecy laws.

Stocks rallied on Friday, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 to a 10-month high as the July jobs report was less bleak than feared and underpinned hopes the economy was on track for recovery.

The U.S. unemployment rate fell in July for the first time in 15 months as employers cut far fewer jobs than expected, giving the clearest indication yet that the economy was turning around from a deep recession.

Giambi was released by the A's on Friday, cutting short the struggling slugger's return to his first major league club. It's unclear whether he will catch on with another club or whether this could be the end of a 15-year career.

Total U.S. consumer credit fell by a steeper-than-expected $10.3 billion in June, Federal Reserve data showed on Friday, and the drop in May was much bigger than previously thought.

Sherri Shepherd took center stage on “The View” on Thursday to show off her new figure after months of diet and exercise.

Florida republican, Senator Mel Martinez, has decided to leave the senate permanently in the next few weeks following his earlier announcement that he would no longer be running for re-election in 2010.

Stocks shot up on Friday, pushing the S&P 500 to a 10-month high, as stronger-than-expected July non-farm payroll data underpinned hopes that the economy was on track for recovery.

Oil fell from six-week highs on Friday, pressured by gains in the dollar following the release of better-than-expected U.S. job-loss numbers.

Despite Friday's economic report indicating that the deterioration in the labor market is slowing more than earlier this year, policy makers should not conclude that the long-term unemployed no longer need assistance, a non-profit think tank said.

A shift in mindset among currency investors, who are now buying dollars on good news about the U.S. economy, may help the greenback in a week highlighted by a Federal Reserve policy meeting and data on retail sales.