IBT Staff Reporter

President Barack Obama opened the door on Thursday to more changes in U.S.-Cuba policy, but based them on Cuban reciprocation that analysts said may be difficult to get.

Google Inc's YouTube video-sharing site has signed content deals with several Hollywood studios, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

There were more electronic security breaches last year than in the previous four years put together and the financial sector suffered the biggest rise in attacks from hackers looking for big stashes of consumer data, according to a report from Verizon Communications.

There were more electronic security breaches last year than in the previous four years put together and the financial sector suffered the biggest rise in attacks from hackers looking for big stashes of consumer data, according to a report from Verizon Communications.

Americans are growing less pessimistic about the recession-hit U.S. economy's prospects, but they remain worried about job security, a Gallup survey showed on Thursday.

The number of Americans claiming jobless aid hit a record in early April and groundbreaking for new homes slumped last month, but a top Federal Reserve official voiced hope the recession was ending.

Waterboarding represented a threat of imminent death to a terrorism suspect but the interrogation technique did not constitute torture because there was no evidence it caused lasting mental harm, according to a 2002 U.S. Justice Department legal memo released on Thursday.

Activist investor Carl Icahn and private equity fund Oaktree Capital Management have amassed hundreds of millions of dollars of MGM Mirage bonds and have told the troubled casino firm it should quickly overhaul its massive debts in bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Nicaraguan government announced it had given a diplomatic passport to Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Investment funds are battling with large banks over the fine print of a U.S. housing rescue plan that will determine many of the final winners and losers in the recent housing bust.

General Growth Properties Inc, the second-largest U.S. mall owner, declared bankruptcy on Thursday in the biggest real estate failure in U.S. history.

Overall U.S. video game sales fell 17 percent in March to $1.43 billion, research group NPD said on Thursday, a revealing figure for an industry that had so far shown resilience in the economic downturn.

Rosetta Stone Inc shares finished their first day of trading up nearly 40 percent Thursday, following the company's initial public offering, making it the strongest start of a new stock in nearly a year.

General Growth Properties Inc, the second-largest U.S. mall owner, declared bankruptcy on Thursday in the biggest real estate failure in U.S. history.

President Obama unveiled a plan Thursday on a system of high-speed railway service, hoping to stimulate the economy and help the environment.

U.S. regulators on Thursday released some details about their bank stress tests, moving to bolster the credibility of a process some investors worry might not reveal the financial sector's true health.

On Tuesday an activist Bank of America Corp investor said he expects shareholders to demand that Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis give up his job as chairman.

Google Inc's YouTube video-sharing site has signed content deals with several Hollywood studios, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

New York Times Co's flagship newspaper plans to eliminate several weekly sections and cut freelance spending to save millions of dollars in annual costs, according to a memo obtained by Reuters.

Time Warner Cable Inc said on Thursday it would shelve plans to test a system that bills customers for the amount of broadband bandwidth they use instead of at a flat fee to access the Internet from home after an uproar from consumer groups and politicians.

Google Inc's YouTube video-sharing site has signed content deals with several Hollywood studios, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Google Inc's quarterly profit topped expectations, helped by cost controls and marketers switching to online ads from traditional media, sending its shares up as much as 5 percent.

The U.S. government reported on Thursday record numbers of people receiving unemployment benefits as the total jobless count exceeded 6 million for the first time – again dimming hopes of seeing the end to the recession.

American International Group Inc agreed to sell its U.S. auto insurance business to Zurich Financial Services for $1.9 billion, marking the largest asset sale by the insurer since its September rescue.

The U.S. government reported on Thursday record numbers of people receiving unemployment benefits as the total jobless count exceeded 6 million for the first time – again dimming hopes of seeing the end to the recession.

Stocks surged on Thursday as expectations of reassuring results from bellwethers, including Google, lifted technology shares, while JPMorgan's better-than-expected profit added to bank stabilization hopes.

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Southern California Edison signed an agreement to buy 90 megawatts of power from a wind farm developed by Seattle-based Ridgeline Energy and BP Wind Energy.

Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department agreed to extend some portions of federal antitrust oversight by 18 months, to May 2011, according to court papers filed on Thursday.