IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. retailers reported their 11th straight month of sales declines in July, as shoppers continued to search for bargains and basics in the downturn.

Stocks slipped on Thursday as drops in telecommunications and biotechnology stocks offset optimism about the economy spurred by a sharp fall in the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits.

General Motors has made little progress in resolving the key issues holding up a sale of its Opel operations to a consortium led by Magna, the U.S. carmaker's chief negotiator on the deal said on Thursday.

Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) Prius hybrid was Japan's best-selling car in July for a second straight month, underscoring robust demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Ford Motor Co's (F.N) car venture in China sold 54 percent more Ford brand vehicles in July from a year earlier, its sales arm said on Thursday.

Germany's Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE), Europe's biggest automaker, plans to produce 1 million vehicles in Brazil by 2012, 39 percent more than in 2008, Valor Economico newspaper said on Thursday, citing a senior company executive.

Thomson Reuters Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by cost cuts, and said it expected 2009 revenue to grow as the financial industry recovers.

Thomson Reuters Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by cost cuts, and affirmed its 2009 outlook that revenue will grow despite tough conditions in the financial industry.

Thomson Reuters Corp reported a higher quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by cost cuts, and affirmed its 2009 outlook that revenue will grow despite tough conditions in the financial industry.

British postal workers are to be balloted in September for a national strike and thousands of Royal Mail staff are to take part in industrial action against job cuts over the next three days, a union said on Thursday.

U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday as drops in telecommunications and biotechnology stocks offset optimism about the economy spurred by a sharp fall in the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits.

A court on Thursday sentenced to death three Indians found guilty of conspiring with a Pakistan-based militant group to carry out serial blasts in Mumbai in 2003 that killed at least 54 people, officials said.

Iraq on Thursday denied it was preventing food, water or medical supplies from entering an Iranian exile camp it wants to shut down north of Baghdad.

U.S. regulators said on Thursday that residential mortgage servicers dealing with first and subordinated liens on the same property must focus on getting the best overall deal for the loan's owners.

U.S. officials are considering a plan to isolate failing assets held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, while an administration official said such an idea was in the early stages of development.

The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday.

Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, which has a good shot at winning power in a general election this month, said on Thursday it backed U.S. President Barack Obama's call to rid the world of nuclear arms.

Morgan Stanley said on Thursday it agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $950 million to redeem warrants to buy its stock, freeing it from the government's bank bailout program.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday she would press South Africa to use more of its influence to counter the negative effects of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.

The United States is playing down talk of a breakthrough with Pyongyang after former U.S. President Bill Clinton flew to North Korea this week to win the release of two jailed American journalists.

Pakistan said on Thursday that evidence given by India failed to build a case for the arrest of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of a Pakistan-based group blamed for the Mumbai attacks, a stance certain to stoke anger in India.

After his talks with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Bill Clinton sure has a story to tell.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped more sharply-than-expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, boosting views that the labor market and the economy were stabilizing.

U.S. retailers reported disappointing sales declines for July, suggesting shoppers are still searching for bargains and basics in the downturn.

GW Pharmaceuticals Plc won a significant endorsement for its cannabis-based medicines on Thursday as U.S. investor Great Point Partners bought a multi-million pound stake in the company, sending GW shares sharply higher.

The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold at a record low on Thursday and said the euro zone economy would remain weak over the rest of the year, although the rate of contraction is slowing down.

Barclays Plc shareholders are expected to comfortably approve the British bank's sale of asset manager Barclays Global Investors to BlackRock when they vote on the $13.5 billion deal on Thursday.

Older Americans who have low strength and poor physical function are at increased risk of being hospitalized, researchers report.

Closing schools, stopping large gatherings and other such measures are unlikely to do much to prevent the spread of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, a team of experts predicted on Wednesday.