IBT Staff Reporter

Top members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement agreed on Wednesday to hold its first congress in 20 years in August in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

It was 26 years ago and Cuba's then-leader, Fidel Castro, foresaw today's global economic crisis, a Cuban official said on Wednesday.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc on Wednesday reported an unexpected rise in quarterly profit as the retailer cut costs to offset slumping consumer demand for home furnishings, and its shares rose 6 percent.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he hoped to reach an understanding with Washington over Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but an Israeli official predicted the dispute would be hard to resolve.

The United States and Canada must do more than currently proposed to tackle greenhouse gases, France says in a position paper ahead of global climate talks in Copenhagen this December.

Nissan Motor Co. will unveil its new electric car on August 2 in Japan but just as a prototype, according to British site AutoCar.

Exelon Inc, Wisconsin Energy Corp., Goldman Sachs and First Solar Inc were among the stocks with links to the clean energy industry which appealed to investors on Wednesday.

If 2008 was a tough year for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, 2009 is looking no easier as political battles pile on top of tough economic challenges.

The Federal Reserve sought to hide its involvement in Bank of America Corp's acquisition of Merrill Lynch as Merrill's financial condition worsened, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said on Wednesday.

The Dow fell for the fourth day and other indexes ended well off the day's highs on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve reiterated concerns about the economic outlook at the end of its policy meeting.

Time Warner Inc and Comcast Corp have banded together to test ways to allow people to watch more TV shows over the Web, while making sure they keep paying for their traditional cable or satellite TV services.

MetroPCS Communications Inc on Wednesday unveiled a discounted international calling service, its latest effort to appeal to cost conscious U.S. consumers.

Nike Inc reported a worse-than-expected global decline in forward orders sending shares of the world's largest athletic shoe and clothing company down 4.1 percent.

Warren Buffett said on Wednesday that the U.S. economy has no bounce and will take time to recover, but there is no risk of deflation to push it further into despair.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday stuck to its huge program of buying government and mortgage debt and said it saw signs that the deep U.S. recession was easing.

The wife of South Carolina governor, Mark Sanford, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon her and the governor had agreed on a trial separation to ultimately strengthen the marriage.

The world's rich lost a fifth of their wealth in 2008 and the number of people with fortunes of more than $1 million fell 15 percent as the financial crisis wiped out two years of growth, a study showed on Wednesday.

Sinopec Group launched China's biggest-ever foreign oil acquisition on Wednesday, agreeing to buy Addax Petroleum Corp for about C$8.27 billion ($7.24 billion) to secure the Swiss oil explorer's high-potential oil blocks in West Africa and Iraq.

Iran's state-run media reported Wednesday that the gunman who killed Neda may have mistaken her for the sister of an Iranian terrorist.

An unexpected jump in U.S. durable goods orders last month backed hopes the economy was healing, a prospect cautiously supported by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

Nike Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings but its forward orders fell 12 percent, sending shares of the world's largest athletic shoe and clothing company down 5 percent.

Iran's interior minister Sadeq Mahsouli accused the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of helping to fund rioters, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The Dow fell for the fourth day and other indexes ended well off the day's highs on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve reiterated concerns about the economic outlook at the end of its policy meeting.

Citigroup Inc is raising salaries companywide to offset restrictions on bonuses after the troubled bank accepted $45 billion of federal bailout money, but the move could backfire if it drives top-performing workers to other employers.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford today admitted to having an extended affair with an Argentinean woman, and announced his resignation from the Chairmanship of the Republican Governor’s Association at press conference, effectively ending his political prospects for higher office.

Top U.S. officials urged China Wednesday to abandon its proposal to require Internet filters installed on personal computers starting next month, warning the step could violate world trade rules.

The Dow industrial average fell for the fourth straight day on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained although well off their session highs, after the U.S. Federal Reserve reiterated concerns about the economic outlook.

The U.S. government will very soon launch its program to use federal funds and private capital to buy banks' toxic assets, the new overseer of the government's $700-billion bank bailout fund said on Tuesday.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford re-appeared Wednesday, following a week long mysterious disappearance, saying that he had been in Argentina and admitted to an extramarital affair.