IBT Staff Reporter

The prospect of a new iPhone launching this year could spark new interest in the firm’s venerable gadget.

On Thursday, 130 countries joined astronomers around the world for a 100-hour stargazing marathon. With more than 1,500 events, the mass event could potentially draw more than a million people, busting all records for participation in astronomy.

Bank of America Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said it may take several quarters for the bank to repay its $45 billion of federal bailout money, although he believes the U.S. economy may bottom out in the second half of this year.

U.S. stocks jumped 4 percent on Thursday after world leaders agreed to pump an additional trillion dollars into the economy to fight the financial crisis and on rule changes aimed at giving banks flexibility when dealing with toxic assets.

Online video games maker Changyou.com Ltd soared in its trading debut on Thursday, with shares up nearly 36 percent, putting it on pace for the most successful stock launch in nearly a year.

Leaders of the G20 nations agreed to pump an additional trillion dollars to fight the economic crisis on Thursday, in an effort to shorten the recession and save jobs.

Costco Wholesale Corp said it plans to close its two Costco Home stores on July 3, citing the current economic slowdown and resulting weakness in the home furnishings business.

Mexican police have captured a leading drug baron from the border city of Ciudad Juarez, the country's most violent town in a turf war that killed 6,300 people last year.

Stocks surged more than 4 percent on Thursday as world leaders agreed to a trillion-dollar deal to fight the economic downturn and banks were allowed more flexibility to value toxic assets that have clogged up the financial system.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress on Thursday moved toward passing a federal budget that embraces President Barack Obama's initiatives on healthcare, energy and education but leaves the government deeply in debt for the foreseeable future.

World leaders agreed a trillion-dollar deal on Thursday to combat the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Maurice Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group Inc and creator of the doomed unit whose investments triggered its downfall, came under fire from U.S. lawmakers on Thursday who questioned his claims of ignorance.

New orders received by U.S. factories rose in February, government data showed on Thursday, breaking a six-month streak of declines and bolstering hopes the economy may be beginning to crawl out of the depths of a recession.

Despite stimulus funds assigned for clean energy around the world, global new investment in clean energy plunged more than 53 percent in the first quarter of 2009, research group New Energy Finance said on Thursday.

Malicious software that has infected millions of computers across the globe failed to wreak havoc on Wednesday as some feared, but researchers warned the powerful Conficker worm could still strike.

(Corrects researcher's last name in penultimate paragraph)

New orders received by U.S. factories rose in February, government data showed on Thursday, breaking a six-month streak of declines and bolstering hopes the economy may be beginning to crawl out of the depths of a recession.

U.S. accounting standard-setters bowed to congressional pressure on Thursday and allowed banks more flexibility to value toxic assets that have forced billions of dollars in writedowns.

U.S. accounting standard-setters bowed to congressional pressure on Thursday and allowed banks more flexibility to value toxic assets that have forced billions of dollars in writedowns.

Stocks added to gains on Thursday after the board that sets U.S. accounting standards agreed to give banks more flexibility in applying mark-to-market accounting to their toxic assets.

Oil rose more than $4 per barrel to above $52 on Thursday as the G20 summit in London raised hopes of a package of measures to restore global growth.

Shares of major carmakers rallied on Thursday after better-than-expected sales in the United States and Europe encouraged hopes that a global auto market collapse could be nearing an end.

Monsanto Co , the world's biggest seed company, posted better-than-expected profit on Thursday as revenues grew in its key corn and soybean seed businesses and it benefited from a low tax rate.

U.S. President Barack Obama told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday problems remain on a stalled free trade deal between the two countries but that he wants to make progress, a U.S. official said.

An independent board that sets U.S. accounting standards bowed to congressional pressure on Thursday and discussed ways to give banks more flexibility to determine the value of toxic assets that have forced billions of dollars in writedowns.

Stocks rose for a third straight session on Thursday on optimism the G20 meeting in London will agree on ways to temper the economic crisis and that new U.S. accounting guidance will favor banks.

World leaders will impose new financial rules on Thursday and triple the war chest of the International Monetary Fund to fight the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, sources at the G20 summit said.

Leaders of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday they had reached agreement on key elements of a bill to revise U.S. patent law.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in remarks published Thursday it would be difficult to make progress in peace talks with Palestinians as long as armed Hamas Islamists control the Gaza Strip.