IBT Staff Reporter

Demand for energy-thirsty gadgets such as cell phones, iPods, PCs and plasma TVs is undoing efficiency gains elsewhere, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc, will start selling Hewlett-Packard Co's netbook computers from May 17, according to a statement from Verizon Wireless.

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as weak U.S. retail sales highlighted the long road to economic recovery, prompting profit-taking on winning bets in equities, higher-yielding currencies and commodities over the past two months.

Documents made public on Wednesday confirm former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave nine major banks no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in them as the Bush administration moved to address turmoil in the financial industry.

Japan's Panasonic Corp is likely to post a net loss of more than 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for the year ending in March 2010, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, as the consumer electronics maker grapples with a stronger yen and slowing demand.

Oil prices fell below $58 a barrel on Thursday, after a 1-percent plus decline the previous day, as equity markets slipped, weighing on optimism for economic recovery and energy demand.

Motorola, Inc. announced today the signing of a one-year frame agreement with China Mobile Communications Corporation to provide mobile telecommunication equipment and services.

A group of major banks including Citigroup Inc , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Barclays Plc has sued MBIA Inc , charging that the bond insurer illegally restructured its operations by moving $5 billion of assets and leaving a key unit effectively insolvent.

The Obama administration is looking into ways it could change the way financial companies compensate employees, according to a report.

A new survey conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School indicates that pessimism about the U.S. among accounting professionals has eased.

Insurance giant MBIA Inc., is facing another lawsuit over a controversial restructuring of the company as 18 major financial institutions sued the company today.

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told nine banks last year that they should accept a federal infusion of funds or be forced to by the regulators, according to a report.

After hours of tension, America has gotten its two finalists to compete for the title of the American Idol season 8. They are Kris Allen and Adam Lambert.

At least 10 people have died after a boat carrying nearly 30 migrants, mostly Haitian, sank off the Florida coast early Wednesday morning.

Japan's Nikkei average fell 2.1 percent on Thursday as exporters slid on a firmer yen and renewed concerns about the U.S. economy, while Nikon Corp tumbled after it forecast its first annual operating loss in 11 years.

U.S. regulators have recommended filing a civil fraud suit against Countrywide Financial co-founder Angelo Mozilo for insider trading, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The European Union vindicated AMD with a fine on competitor Intel Corp. for antitrust violations Wednesday, but the ruling is not likely to change Intel’s dominant position in the microprocessor industry.

The Obama administration moved on Wednesday to exert more control over the shadowy over-the-counter derivatives market, now closely linked to the global credit crisis.

Apple has release a patch for its safari 3.2.3 to cover trio of flaws in the Safari Web browser as well as new beta safari 4.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday said its world demand in oil will continue to shrink in the current global economic recessions inline with its rising prices in oil demand and outputs cuts of 2.6 percent from the International Monetary Fund.

A day after saying big U.S. banks probably needed to raise only one-fourth the capital demanded by the government, Standard & Poor's said the nation's banking crisis has merely entered a new phase and might not end before 2013.

Online classified site Craigslist will replace its erotic services ads with a new adult category following pressure by state authorities after the murder of a masseuse who advertised on the site.

The pending sale of Verizon Communications landlines to Frontier Communications Corp. has raised serious concerns from their respective unions.

A new battery switch technology for electric vehicles was demonstrated for the first time in Yokohoma, Japan Tuesday by the company Better Place. The technology consists in a station.

The Obama administration plans to regulate sophisticated financial instruments linked to last year's market turmoil by requiring standardized over-the-counter derivatives to be cleared through central clearinghouses, two congressional staff workers told Reuters on Wednesday.

Google is running into legal problems with privacy advocates in both Greece and Japan over its Google Maps feature, Street View.

The Obama administration moved on Wednesday to shed more light on the over-the-counter derivatives market, a once-booming shadow banking system that is now closely linked to the global credit crisis.

U.S. officials are looking at ways to force reforms in financial industry compensation practices to discourage excessive risk-taking, which is considered to have sown the seeds of the current credit crisis.

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved legislation to require radio station owners to pay new fees to the recording industry to play music on the air.