IBT Staff Reporter

Apple Computer, manufacturer of hardware and software products, launched the Summer of Music campaign across various cities of Japan on Wednesday, offering free music, collectables, and live performances.

People are so obsessed with diamonds in Sierra Leone, they overlook the value and abundance of this gold, Aiah Lebbie, chief of Nimikkor chiefdom in Sierra Leone's eastern province said.

When Chinese investors bought struggling copper producer Chambishi Mining Plc, miners in this Zambian town gave them a heroes' welcome for averting its closure and for creating more jobs.

Cuba's Communist government has signaled a crackdown on the use of black-market satellite dishes, just over a week after ailing leader Fidel Castro temporarily relinquished power to his brother.

Cisco Systems' buoyant sales outlook helped pull U.S. stock market futures higher on Wednesday, offsetting the last session's downturn after the Federal Reserve signaled a pause rather than end to interest-rate hikes and after another warning in the home building sector.

U.S. mortgage applications rose for the first time in four weeks as long-term home loan interest rates plunged to their lowest levels since March, data from the industry's main trade group showed on Wednesday.

The University of California is joining Google Inc.'s book-scanning project, throwing the weight of another 100 academic libraries behind an ambitious venture that's under legal attack for alleged copyright infringement.

The good times in the $850 billion U.S. junk bond market may be at risk of winding down as the economy slows, leveraged buyouts get bigger and an increasing amount of bond supply looms.

Internet portal Yahoo Inc. released a Search Builder tool for creating customized search engines, rivaling many search upstarts, on Monday

Computer storage firm Brocade Communication Systems Inc. announced on Tuesday that it would acquire its rival McData under a stock agreement.

BHP declared on Tuesday that delivery from its copper mines in Chile had come to a halt due to a walkout staged by over 2,000 union workers.

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. said on Tuesday it would buy rival McData Corp. in a $713 million stock deal, bolstering its line of data storage networks to compete against Cisco Systems Inc.

Singita Private Game Reserve has been voted as the best hotel in the world. The city that it is located in, Cape Town, has been ranked as one of the top 10 cities, according to an Internet survey conducted by Travel & Leisure Magazine.

Bausch & Lomb announced on Tuesday that it had reduced its net profit guidance by as much as 80 percent, blaming the downgrade on a worldwide recall of its eye-care contact lens cleaner.

Shares of oil tanker companies that operate between the U.S. and the Middle East rose sharply on Tuesday after news broke that production out of Alaska's Prudhoe Bay may not normalize until 2007.

Resource Company BHP Billiton said on Tuesday it foresees great potential for a large discovery of diamonds in Angola as well as forming a partnership with the government.

Bob Dylan has teamed with Apple's iTunes Music Store to offer fans who pre-order his new album through the retailer first crack at tickets for shows on his fall tour.

Anadarko Petroleum received clearance from federal regulators on Tuesday to take over Western Gas Resources Inc.

Aramark, a food service provider, on Tuesday accepted a management buyout from Joseph Neubauer, its chairman and CEO, in conjunction with a private equity consortium.

India's trade minister said on Tuesday that wealthy countries need to be more flexible on agricultural subsidies if global trade talks are to re-commence following the failed WTO talks in Geneva late last month.

U.S. wireless companies face new competition on Wednesday as they start bidding on licenses for advanced wireless services like high-speed Internet - from the satellite and cable television industries.

In the final days of July, Microsoft held an analyst meeting at its Redmond Wash headquarters, where it was notably unclear about the release of its new Windows Vista operating system. Though they declined to give solid details, industry experts feel there may be a strong chance for more delays.

Nokia, the worlds largest cell phone supplier, announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to purchase music distributor Loudeye Corp. for $60 million.

U.S. business productivity rose at a 1.1 percent annual rate in the second quarter but unit labor costs jumped sharply, according to a government report that gave the Federal Reserve a final piece of inflationary data as a pivotal meeting started on Tuesday.

After years of lackluster results, AOL is refocusing. Instead of pursuing new subscribers, it will focus on online advertising to grow in a highly competitive market.

On Monday, Microsoft Corp. offered the first glimpse of an external Hi-Definition DVD (HD-DVD) player to be released for its Xbox 360 gaming console.

Alltel Corp. the No. 5 U.S. cellphone provider, said on Tuesday it will provide a service to download audio clips from the Internet to cellphones in a bid to expand its business beyond voice services.

Sprint Nextel Corp.is expected to announce it is choosing the WiMax technology to build a new wireless Internet network in coming years, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Expectations of a halt in the Federal Reserve's two-year campaign of interest rate rises kept the dollar near two-month lows on Tuesday, while auto firms led stocks higher in Asia and Europe.