IBT Staff Reporter

LONDON - U.S. oil prices slipped toward $37 a barrel on Monday as a raft of bearish economic data focused attention on declining global oil demand. Japan's economy shrank in the last quarter by its most since the first oil crisis in 1974, hit by an unprecedented slump in exports, which is likely to lead to more calls for extra stimulus steps to fight the deepening recession. The impact of the ...

WASHINGTON - The $7.2 billion in funding to promote high-speed Internet in the stimulus package is just the first step in the Obama administration's effort to fuel expansion of telecommunications services, an adviser to the president said on Monday. Despite new federal money, the amount is but a fraction of what is needed to establish the United States in terms of broadband versus other dev...

NEW YORK - Giving people with type 2 diabetes the opportunity to help manage their care online can substantially improve their long-term blood sugar control, new research suggests. Clinic visits alone aren't enough for many people with diabetes, Dr. James D. Ralston of the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle and colleagues note in the journal Diabetes Care. The researchers tested whether an In...

ROME - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the United States against accusations of protectionism during a trip to Italy on Monday, following concerns about a Buy American provision in the U.S. stimulus plan. Somewhere in the mix of things, someone has decided that America has become, is becoming, more protectionist. I don't think that is the case, Pelosi told reporters at the Ital...

Negotiators for General Motors Corp and the United Auto Workers union, staring down a Tuesday deadline for the struggling automaker to submit a plan for its survival to the U.S. government, were making progress in high-stakes talks aimed at cutting GM's costs and debt, a person familiar with the matter said.

we are not that close to a last ditch scenario just yet, though very much aware of the strong economic head winds, said a spokeswoman for private client investment manager Brewin Dolphin, a Lloyds investor. One option could be for the government to convert 4 billion pounds of preference shares into equity, which would cut about 480 million pounds in annual interest but lift the government's s...

denied the charges. The group that controls The Pirate Bay, launched in 2003, says that since no copyrighted material is stored on its servers and no exchange of files actually takes place there, they cannot be held responsible for what material is being exchanged. The prosecution says that by financing, programing and administering the site, the four men promoted the infringement of property r...

LONDON - U.S. oil prices climbed toward $38 a barrel on Monday after the International Energy Agency said there could be an oil market supply crunch from next year once global oil demand begins to recover. The IEA warning gave upward momentum to a market undermined by a raft of bearish economic data from Asia. Japan's economy shrank in the last quarter by its most since the first oil crisis i...

has already shipped its pared-down Flash Lite video player in almost 1 billion mobile phones. Last year, almost 40 percent of all new mobile devices shipped contained Flash Lite, and Adobe said it expects to ship another 1.5 billion in the next two years. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Hans Peters)

Microsoft said on Monday it had signed a deal with LG Electronics, under which the world's third-largest cellphone maker will use Windows software in most of its smartphones.

South Korean electronics group Samsung showcased its first solar-powered mobile phone hoping to redress the balance on Monday at a Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

TOKYO - Japan sank deeper into recession with its worst quarterly contraction in 35 years, data showed on Monday, its reliance on exports and soft domestic demand dragging down the world's second-largest economy. The grim Japanese figures, coupled with disappointment over the lack of coordinated action from the G7 and worries about bank rescue plans pushed European shares down by 0.6 percent in...

GENEVA - Mobile telephones are seen as a basic necessity around the world and should enjoy persistent strong demand throughout an economic downturn, a United Nations agency said in a report published on Monday. With or without a recession, millions of people in India, China, Nigeria, and other emerging markets will seek out mobile phones, according to the International Telecommunication ...

Today, Huawei Technologies showcased its first Android-powered smart phone at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

GENEVA - Mobile telephones are seen as a basic necessity around the world and should enjoy persistent strong demand throughout an economic downturn, a United Nations agency said in a report published on Monday. With or without a recession, millions of people in India, China, Nigeria, and other emerging markets will seek out mobile phones, according to the International Telecommunication ...

A new property has now been added to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's list, this time it's a 4 million pound ($5.6 million) home in Hong Kong, Britain's Sunday Times reported.

stored on Windows phones. Microsoft, whose Windows mobile operating system used to be the second-most popular for smartphones after Nokia's Symbian, has been overtaken by Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. (Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Erica Billingham)

to grow 18 percent to $67 billion this year. Apple's App Store has proved to be popular with iPhone users, and helped spawn an entire industry of entrepreneurs who design the programs which can then be downloaded by consumers. Apple said last month a total of 15,000 applications are available and downloads have hit 500 million in six months. Microsoft Corp is also planning an online bazaar...

On Monday US fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken said in a bid to boost the deep recession affecting Britain and Ireland it would create 9,000 jobs by 2014

BEIJING - Chinese official media on Monday welcomed the relatively mild line on the yuan currency from a G7 meeting as vindication for its policies, while continuing to pillory Buy American provisions in U.S. rescue plans. Chinese government officials have so far avoided public comment on the Group of Seven industrialized nations meeting on the weekend that praised China's fiscal measures...

aimed to sell 40-45 million phones in 2009, compared with 33 million last year. Chen also said the company would introduce commercially a phone model using next generation Long Term Evolution technology late this year or early next.

LONDON - U.S. oil prices stayed above $37 a barrel on Monday, as bearish economic data from Asia slowed the upward momentum after a sharp rally at the end of last week. Japan's economy shrank in the last quarter by its most since the first oil crisis in 1974, hit by an unprecedented slump in exports, which is likely to lead to more calls for extra stimulus steps to fight the deepening recession...

to be ready for customers later this year and in commercial products in 2010. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd recently launched a phone, costing roughly $500, in South Korea using the first version of TI's pico-projector technology that beams video or photographs from a phone to any surface. Samsung also plans to sell a similar device in Europe, but has not released pricing. TI said interest in its...

U.S. oil prices climbed above $38 a barrel on Monday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said there could be an oil market supply crunch from next year once global oil demand begins to recover.

The world's first zero-emission polar research station opened in Antarctica on Sunday and was welcomed by scientists as proof that alternative energy is viable even in the coldest regions.

U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp will not cut back on investments in new crude production, despite the collapse in oil prices, the company's regional head of exploration said on Monday.

Acer Inc, the world's third-largest PC brand, entered the increasingly crowded smartphone market on Monday with the unveiling of its first eight models at the World Mobile Congress trade show in Barcelona.

Software giant Microsoft is in talks to buy Israel's 3DV Systems, a maker of three-dimensional video imaging, financial website TheMarker.com reported on Tuesday.

has already shipped its pared-down Flash Lite video player in almost 1 billion mobile phones. Last year, almost 40 percent of all new mobile devices shipped contained Flash Lite, and Adobe said it expects to ship another 1.5 billion in the next two years. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Hans Peters)