IBT Staff Reporter

President Barack Obama, saying he was committed to a strong U.S. auto industry, announced on Thursday the government would buy 17,600 new fuel-efficient vehicles from ailing American automakers by June 1.

A year ago, General Motors Corp rolled out rapper 50 Cent to launch a new sport truck at the New York Auto Show. This year it sent executives in suits with a PowerPoint presentation.

The trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's brokerage is seeking the return of $150 million that an offshore investor withdrew less than two months before the jailed swindler's arrest, saying the money should be returned to other customers.

If Wells Fargo's upbeat first-quarter performance is any sign, Wall Street could rally further next week on any reassuring news from three other big banks due to post quarterly results.

Google's YouTube and Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, said on Thursday they will launch a premium music video website as they bid to increase revenue from YouTube's huge usage.

Chevron Corp warned that first-quarter earnings would be sharply lower than the previous quarter as lower oil and gas prices took a toll and refined-product margins shrank significantly.

Somali pirates are on the run and the international community must do more to trace the money trail to find their backers, the U.N. envoy to Somalia said on Thursday.

President Barack Obama, saying he was committed to a strong U.S. auto industry, announced on Thursday the government would buy 17,600 new fuel-efficient vehicles from ailing American automakers by June 1.

Boeing Co warned on Thursday first-quarter profit would be slashed by lower-than-expected airplane prices and production cuts on its lucrative widebody planes as cash-strapped airlines defer purchases, sending its shares down 3.6 percent in after-hours trading.

North Korea re-elected Kim Jong-il as its supreme military leader at its newly seated parliament on Thursday, marking his return to center stage as the country celebrates what it calls a triumphant satellite launch.

Maritime experts reacting on Thursday to the stirring tale of 20 unarmed U.S. crew members wresting back control of their hijacked freighter from armed pirates off Somalia agreed on one thing: they were lucky.

President Evo Morales went on a hunger strike on Thursday to demand Bolivia's Congress pass an electoral law that could make it easier for him to win control of the legislature in December's general election.

Diversified healthcare company Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it was eliminating 900 positions from its Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceutical unit in the latest downsizing move in the drug industry.

The Obama administration is seeking $83.4 billion in funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, including $75.8 billion for the Pentagon, for the rest of the 2009 fiscal year, a government official said Thursday.

The United States economy will skid more deeply into recession in coming months, Federal Reserve policy-makers warned on Thursday, but it is time to start planning how to wind down spending to avert an inflationary surge.

Stocks jumped on Thursday after Wells Fargo said it expects to report a record quarterly profit, fueling a month-long rally prompted by hopes that deterioration in the financial sector was abating.

ESPN will launch a website dedicated to the Chicago market on Monday in an effort to reach more fans and generate more revenue from local advertisers, after more than ten years on the radio in the Windy City.

Boeing Co said on Thursday that it would cut airplane production in 2010, citing weak business conditions for commercial customers such as airlines and cargo operators, sending its shares down 3 percent in extended trading.

Google Inc's YouTube and Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, said on Thursday they will launch a premium music video website as they bid to increase revenue from YouTube's huge usage.

The U.S. initial jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 654,000, down from a revised 674,000 for the week which ended on April 4, the Labor Department said Thursday in Washington.

The sense of freefall for the U.S. economy is likely to end in the middle of the year, though the road to recovery could take some time, Lawrence Summers, U.S. President Barack Obama's top White House economic policy aide, said on Thursday.

El Salvador is a country in Central America and, geographically, is part of continental North America. It is bordered on the southwest by the Pacific Ocean, and lies between Guatemala and Honduras.

The UN International Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD)announced Wednesday a new project which provides a $14.98 million loan to modernize El Salvador’s agriculture.

Sales at U.S. retailers declined less than expected in March in a sign that shoppers may be regaining confidence to open their wallets after more than a year of recession.

Waste Management Inc. the biggest company in the U.S. that transports trash is in talks to build and operate waste-to-energy plants in China.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, government data showed on Thursday, but was still at levels indicating the labor market's contraction has yet to hit bottom.

Stocks jumped on Thursday after Wells Fargo said it expects to report a record quarterly profit, fueling a month-long rally prompted by hopes that deterioration in the financial sector was abating.

Wells Fargo & Co said it expects to post a record $3 billion first-quarter profit, causing its shares to soar 31.7 percent and providing a welcome jolt to the stock market and a still-troubled banking sector.

Regulators opened a debate on Wednesday on how the United States, trailing many industrialized countries in access and adoption of high-speed Internet, can extend the technology to low-income and other under-served areas.