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Amazon removed whistle blowing website WikiLeaks from its servers amid pressure from federal lawmakers who were upset with WikiLeaks' recent release of certain confidential and sensitive government information.

Designers of The Waterhouse at South Bund hotel in Shanghai were awarded the prestigious Architectural Review Emerging Architecture Award 2010 by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Brewer and pubs group Marston’s Plc said it has made a strong start to the new financial year even as it reported a rise in profits for the 52 weeks ended Oct. 2.

Hyundai Motor America on Wednesday reported that its US auto sales soared 45 percent, led by strong gains from its Sonata, Tucson and Genesis models.

While the company is not confirming details, a media report says their new endeavor will be an open platform with an attached retail store.

Del Monte Foods, one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketers of branded food and pet products for the U.S. retail market, has agreed to be acquired by an investor group led by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) for $5.3 billion, including debt.

The U.S. economy continued to improve, on balance, during the period from early/mid-October to mid-November, according to the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book,” a compendium of economic reports from the central bank’s twelve districts.

U.S. online retail sales on Cyber Monday hit an all-time high and surpassed $1 billion for the first time for any single day of web shopping, according to research firm comScore Inc.

Consumers spent $1.028-billion online during Cyber Monday, up 16 percent from a year ago, and first time such spending surpassed the billion-dollar level. It was also the busiest online shopping day ever.

After Google announced plans to launch Google Editions in 2009, the much-awaited but delayed buy anywhere read anywhere digital book distribution channel is to hit the market by the end of December.

Standpoint Research has downgraded American Eagle Outfitters to hold from buy, expressing concerns over the apparel retailer's store count.

Cyber Monday sales were up, with mobile shoppers making a significant showing for the first time.

Online retail sales soared 19.4 percent through the afternoon of Cyber Monday from the prior year, according to data from Coremetrics, a division of IBM (NYSE: IBM).

ThinkEquity has increased its profit estimates and price target on Apple Inc., saying that the recent expansion of iPad distribution in the U.S. and iPad's launch in more international markets, easing of supply constraints this quarter are strong positives for the company.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) said that 212 million U.S. shoppers visited stores and websites over the Black Friday weekend, up from 195 million last year. Moreover, the average shopper spent $365.34 this weekend, up from last year’s $343.31 figure.

Stocks fell, but finished significantly above intra-day lows, as the market recovered somewhat from early losses triggered by renewed fears that the euro zone debt crisis could spread beyond Ireland to Portugal and Spain.

The eurozone’s economic sentiment rose to three-year high in November, despite concerns over the sovereign debt crisis in some countries in the region.

Now institutional investors in China can join the gold buying frenzy as well, which retail investors and the Chinese central bank are already engaged in. China approved the country's first mutual fund that bets on gold prices, as inflation fears fuel demand for the precious metal.

Despite the big build-up, retail sales on Black Friday were rather tepid. According to data from ShopperTrak, sales edged up a mere 0.3 percent from the same day last year.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to flat opening on Monday as the European Union’s 85 billion euro ($113 billion) financial assistance package for Ireland failed to boost investor sentiment.

A new survey shows shoppers are aware of security issues, but keep shopping online anyway.