IBT Staff Reporter

Two American journalists freed by North Korea from months of detention were due to return to U.S. soil early on Wednesday accompanied by former President Bill Clinton, who secured their release in a meeting with the hermit state's leader Kim Jong-il.

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Wednesday ahead of key reports on the labor market, factory orders and the vast services sector and after a disappointing outlook from Procter & Gamble Co.

Americans fresh out of university are discovering their expensive degrees are not the entry ticket to a job they had hoped in the face of high unemployment.

Investors are banking on fresh government incentives in the United States and China to help pull the solar sector out of its slump, but it will be next year before demand from those markets even begins to make a dent in the global glut of solar panels.

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Wednesday before key reports on the labor market, factory orders and the vast services sector.

Citigroup plans to sell 20 businesses in consumer finance area, many of them located in Europe, its CEO Vikram Pandit said in an interview with Singapore's Business Times.

A closely-watched gauge of U.S. factory activity likely rose in July but stayed below the level showing expansion, suggesting the economy might start to emerge from recession in the second half of the year.

Oil eased below $71 a barrel on Wednesday after inventory data showed a rise in United States fuel stocks, adding to doubts about demand from the world's biggest energy consumer.

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group sank to a 4 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) loss in the first half, battered by a surge in bad debts from its HBOS business, but the bank told investors it was through the worst.

Wall Street was expected to open lower on Wednesday, slipping back from a nine-month high, as investors awaited further pointers to a potential economic recovery, and more second-quarter earnings.

Unexpectedly modest bad debt provisions and an investment banking recovery cushioned Societe Generale against steep falls in second quarter profits and the French bank said there were signs of stabler market conditions ahead.

The U.S. service sector is forecast to show contraction last month, but less than it shrank in June, according to a Reuters' poll of economists.

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group sank to a 4 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) loss in the first half, battered by a surge in bad debts from its HBOS business, but the bank told investors it was through the worst.

Unexpectedly modest bad debt provisions and an investment banking recovery cushioned Societe Generale against steep falls in second quarter profits and the French bank said there were signs of stabler market conditions ahead.

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group sank to a 4 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) loss in the first-half of the year as it was hit by a surge in bad debts from the HBOS business it bought earlier this year.

Young investors may accept the argument that those who begin investing when stocks are cheap end up with more retirement money, but after the turmoil of the past year, some find it hard to put their money in the market.

The rally in global equities took a breather on Wednesday while the dollar hovered near its 2009 lows with two major central banks' policy meetings and key U.S. labor data looming.

Media software company DivX Inc said on Tuesday it signed deals to digitally distribute films for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp and Paramount Pictures, bringing the total number of Hollywood studios to embrace its technology to four.

Asian stocks steadied near 11-month highs on Wednesday, as investors paused for breath before more earnings reports, but rising dairy prices pushed the New Zealand dollar to a 10-month peak.

A missile believed to have been fired by a U.S. drone aircraft struck the house of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud's father-in-law on Wednesday, killing at least one woman, a relative said.

The World Health Organization stuck on Tuesday to its statement that about two billion people could catch H1N1 influenza by the time the flu pandemic ends.

A man walked into a suburban Pittsburgh gym on Tuesday evening and opened fire in a Latin dance class, killing three women before turning his weapon on himself and taking his own life, police said.

Toshiba Corp's loss-making LCD unit will invest in a joint venture in China to tap growing demand for mobile phone displays and offload equipment as it shifts its focus in Japan to high-resolution products.

India's Bharti Airtel plans to bid for telecom operator Millicom's Sri Lankan mobile network, the Economic Times said on Wednesday, citing two executives familiar with developments.

Pope Benedict has a website, his own YouTube channel and he's on the social networking site Facebook -- now he's about to release his first album.

The U.S. Senate opened a spirited debate on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor -- with history indicating it is impossible to know how she may ultimately rule on the highest U.S. court.

Britain supports signing an economic pact between Syria and the European Union despite its concerns about human rights violations by Damascus, a British official said on Tuesday.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be sworn in as Iran's president on Wednesday after a disputed re-election that has exposed a deep schism in the clerical establishment.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's successful mission to Pyongyang to win freedom for two jailed American journalists carries with it new risks to the Obama administration's efforts to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons.