IBT Staff Reporter

Ford Motor Co posted a $2.3 billion quarterly net profit, mainly due to gains from a $10 billion debt-reduction plan, and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011, sending its shares up 10 percent.

Sales of previously owned homes in the United States increased at a faster-than-expected annual pace in June, an industry survey showed on Thursday, in the third straight month of gains.

An unusually robust rise in home prices from April to May could foreshadow a recovery in many U.S. housing markets, according to a report released on Thursday by Radar Logic, a real estate data and analytics company.

Stocks rose on Thursday, with the Dow industrials breaking the key 9,000 mark, as investors saw strong quarterly results, including from 3M Co , and improving home sales data as signs the economy is stabilizing.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose roughly as expected last week, but the data was distorted by an unusual pattern of layoffs in the automotive industry.

AT&T Inc on Thursday posted a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit as strong sales of Apple Inc's iPhone helped boost wireless subscriber growth.

Yahoo acquired Xoopit social photo management service, first developed as an add-on for Google's Gmail, the company announced late Wednesday.

The new pandemic H1N1 is causing a brisk flu season in the Southern Hemisphere and U.S. health officials said on Thursday they want to move swiftly to approve a vaccine to battle it.

California lawmakers will vote on Thursday on a budget deal between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and their leaders that balances the state's books by closing an historic $26.3 billion shortfall, largely with deep spending cuts.

Better-than-expected company results, improving French business confidence and a pick-up in UK retail sales offered some evidence on Thursday that stimulus spending was helping to ease the global economic downturn.

United Parcel Service Inc , the world's largest package delivery company, reported an in-line quarterly profit on Thursday and gave a weak outlook for the current quarter, but said its domestic and global businesses appeared to be stabilizing.

Porsche SE could still dig itself out of its debt hole without a merger of its sportscar business with mass-market rival Volkswagen, two people close to Porsche said on Thursday.

South Africa's government on Thursday threatened to crack down on violent protests which erupted this week over jobs and living conditions, posing an early challenge to President Jacob Zuma.

Italy has blocked the sale of two luxury yachts which police say were destined for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, in violation of international sanctions on his isolated communist state.

McDonald's Corp posted a lower quarterly profit and lower-than-expected sales on Thursday as the recession has pushed U.S. unemployment to the highest level in more than two decades.

The commander of the Taliban in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley is alive and has not been wounded, contrary to reports by the military, his spokesman said on Thursday.

Dutch bank ING Group has hired JPMorgan to advise on the sale of ING's private banking business in Europe and Asia, which could fetch more than $1 billion, sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Officials from MTN are meeting India's capital market watchdog and stock exchanges to understand regulatory issues on a proposed deal between the South African firm and Bharti Airtel, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.

I have been reading a lot of travel blogs over the past few months, ever since I came back from Hawaii and read the book '4 hour work week.

The wife of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi says her 62-year-old brother was among those detained after last month's disputed election in what she called a futile attempt to pressure her husband and herself.

General Motors' GM.UL European business said on Thursday it had agreed to continue detailed talks with both Magna and RHJ International on its German unit Opel.

Signs of stabilisation if not recovery will be the focus when ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, reports second-quarter results next week.

North Korea has no friends left to shield it from the international community's demands that the country scrap its nuclear activities, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

The United States and North Korea became entangled in a brief diplomatic imbroglio on Thursday when they found themselves competing for the same stage for a news conference.

We're well into the dog days of summer, and soaring temperatures and long hours of daylight also means we're right in the middle of peak travel season in France.

North Korea, bristling at being described by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as behaving like an unruly child, responded in kind on Thursday, calling her vulgar and less then clever.

The U.S. unit of the world's largest meat processor, JBS SA, filed for an initial public offering of up to $2 billion on Wednesday, making it the largest planned offering in the U.S. IPO pipeline.

China State Construction Engineering Corp (CSCEC) on Thursday set a price for its Shanghai IPO at the top of an indicated range, raising 50.16 billion yuan ($7.34 billion) in the world's largest public offering in more than a year.

President Barack Obama pressed his case for an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare on Wednesday in a nationally televised news conference. He also addressed concerns about the economy. Here are some quotes from the news conference: