IBT Staff Reporter

Wal-Mart said on Friday it will launch a 5-year plan to reduce the amounts of natural resources it uses for packaging by 5 percent.

The World Bank said on Friday it has approved a $13 million grant to reduce avian influenza threats on poultry in the West Bank and Gaza.

Apple Computer revamped its online media store, iTunes, last week, adding over 75 movies from four major Hollywood studios. However, a recent study indicates that the large following of iPod users, only a fraction obtain media from iTunes.

Shares in JetBlue Airways Corp. fell on Friday after the discount carrier lowered its earnings forecast amid weaker demand.JetBlue was the latest U.S. airline to highlight softening demand because of security concerns and a seasonal drop-off in traffic.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., fresh from cutting the prices on generic prescription drugs, is now taking on the packaging industry.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. disputed a report on Friday saying it was trying to dissuade movie studios from working with......

July saw the volume of total goods exports increase 11.6% on the same month last year while that of total goods imports rose 9.5%

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the largest lender of mainland, will launch its initial public offer and become the first one offering the listing.......

Coles Myer's bold five year strategy that includes job cuts, brand integration, supply chain upgrades and hypermarkets may have scared off any potential predators, retail analysts said.

Souls Private Equity Ltd believes its current portfolio of 15 small to medium sized enterprises (SME) is well placed for continuing growth, after the group posted a rise in annual earnings.

Australia's Straits Resources Ltd plans to sell some of its Asian energy and trading assets in an initial public offering of around $US400 million ($A529 million) in Singapore in the fourth quarter, sources close to the deal said.

BluGlass Ltd will focus on proving that its technology to cut the cost of manufacturing gallium nitride is commercially viable after making a strong debut on the Australian Stock Exchange.

A new virus that targets users of Microsoft's MSN Messenger program has been identified by researchers, threatening to steal users banking and personal data.

Japan and six Gulf nations comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council began to discuss their bilateral free trade agreement during the first round of talks in Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Plexus Corp., an electronic manufacturing services company, said on Friday that talks have begun to purchase an additional manufacturing facility in Malaysia in order to meet the demands of its customers.

Hewlett Packard chief executive Mark Hurd said Friday that he is taking over as the company's chairman effective immediately, replacing Patricia Dunn, who was at the center of the company's spying scandal.

UAE-based Etihad Airways was voted the world's leading new airline for the third year in a row in the 13th annual World Travel Awards currently taking place in the Carribean's Turks and Caicos Islands.

Japan Post will collect mails less frequently from 40 thousand mailboxes in major cities starting from Oct. 16, it announced Friday.

The Ministry of Finance of Japan issued a business improvement administrative order to Credit Suisse Asset Management Japan on Friday due to breaches of securities investment trust law, the firm said in official statement released later on the same day.

Substantial hardware changes will be required for users to upgrade to the new Microsoft Windows Vista platform, experts say, paving way for greater sales in the hardware segment.

The Ministry of Finance of Japan issued a business improvement administrative order to Fukuoka Stock Exchange and Sapporo Stock Exchange on Friday, questioning the operation of their market monitoring systems to prevent illegal trading and the quality of troubleshooting aids.

Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau singled out Aiful Corp., a major consumer loan firm in Japan, for failure to declare taxes after it found false losses of 850 million yen in the firm's calculation for bad-debt loss during the fiscal year of 2005, major Japanese newspapers reported Friday.

Japan will embark on revision of labor system in an effort to encourage growth of the foreign labor force.

Sales at supermarkets in Japan were 1.1 percent lower than a year before at 1.18 trillion yen in August on a same-store basis for the eighth consecutive month, Japan Chain Stores Association said Friday.

AT&T said on Thursday it will be adding 2,000 of its previously outsourced technical support jobs to its payroll.

A California resident has been sentenced to 7 years and 3 months to a federal prison for pirating an upwards of $20 million in software from major software vendors.

Wal-Mart said on Friday it will launch a 5-year plan to reduce the amounts of natural resources it uses for packaging by 5 percent.

Electronic Arts has signed a deal to provide gaming content for in-flight entertainment systems to DTI Software's airline partners.

The US dollar continues to be the appropriate anchor for the Hong Kong dollar for the foreseeable future and no change is needed......