BUSINESS

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the world's biggest software company, is in seeking to divest its remaining investment in MSNBC.com, the No. 4 U.S. news website.

The U.N. human rights chief has called for an independent investigation into the police crackdown on striking oil workers in Kazakhstan last December in which at least 15 people died and over 100 were injured after police opened fire on the crowd.

Your corn flakes are going to be more expensive in six to 12 months' time. As will your ketchup, carbonated drinks, sweets, hamburgers, chicken and many other things in the corn-heavy American diet.

Premier Oil PLC (London: PMO) has agreed to a $1 billion deal to create oil drilling in the UK-controlled Falkland Islands, but its greatest obstacle could be Argentina's government.

Nike has distanced itself from the former Penn State coach in light of new allegations.

Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), the No. 3 search engine, elected 11 directors at its annual meeting Thursday, including three nominated by former dissident shareholder Third Point Capital.

All seven people aboard a plane being used by Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) died when the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from an airport in the African nation of Mauritania, officials of the gold mining company said Thursday.

The European fiscal crisis is dragging down business travel growth in the United States, according to a new report from the Alexandria, Va.-based Global Business Travel Association.

Google recently unveiled its Nexus 7 tablet at its I/O developers conference at the end of June, and critics, analysts, and tech enthusiasts have wondered how it will stack up to the competition. Now professionals have torn the new device apart to see just what makes the Nexus 7 stand out from its rivals.

The swastika is considered a harbinger of good luck and well being in India.

Peru has a launched a project to combat exploitative child labor practices with a $13 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) is joining hands with Boeing Co. (BA) to save on its fuel costs by replacing outdated and obsolete planes.

When San Franciso-based Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), releases quarterly results Friday morning, analysts will be examining the corporate filing for hints as to the state of the U.S. housing market.

Nepali women, especially those of the Tamang ethnic group, have long been prized for their fair complexions and delicate features.

What bad news does China have in store?

When New York-based banking behemoth JPMorgan Chase and Co. (NYSE:JPM) reports its financial results for the latest quarter on Friday morning, the market's collective attention will be focused on just one figure: the one finally detailing how much JPMorgan lost as a result of its ill-advised strategy of putting huge hedge bets on the CDS derivatives market.

Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), the No. 3 search engine, acknowledged a security breach of a Singapore-based server from which a hacker group may have extracted log-ins for as many as 450,000 user accounts.

Why is it that when a guy tells a joke, everyone laughs, but if a woman tells that same joke, she is looked down upon as (1) unladylike, (2) desperately seeking attention, or (3) still not over the pain of childbirth?

Although Apple hasn?t officially unveiled its next-generation smartphone, online retailers in China have already started rolling in preorders for the iPhone 5. A Chinese e-commerce website has begun offering pre-release sale for what could be the biggest consumer electronics launch in history.

Australian online electronics retailer Kogan says Microsoft Corporation (NYSE: MSFT) rectified an issue that knocked the company's home page off the Seattle-based software giant's Bing search engine.

The IEA estimates world oil demand at 90.9 million bpd in 2013, and says fuel consumption in the developed economies of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will be overtaken for the first time by non-OECD demand, a trend that is unlikely to be reversed.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) narrowly retained its spot as No. 1 in global PC sales but China?s Lenovo Group (Pink: LNVGY) is within striking distance, market researcher Gartner Group (NYSE: IT) reported.

U.S. futures industry investigators are looking into why Iowa-based collapsed brokerage PFGBest used a tiny accounting firm that appears to be operating from inside a suburban Chicago home to audit its books, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The number of Americans lining up for new jobless benefits last week had its biggest decline in four years, the Labor Department said Thursday, but one-time factors such as fewer auto-sector layoffs than normal plus the July 4 holiday likely caused the sharp decline.

Japanese advertising company Dentsu Inc. (Tokyo: 4324) is buying the British firm Aegis Group Plc (AGS) for £3.16 billion ($4.9 billion) in a deal that will give Aegis stakeholders $3.73 per share.

Airbus has won about $16.9 billion worth of business for a total of 115 aircraft, the European aerospace giant said Thursday.

According to an internal memo, HSBC revealed that it will acknowledge and apologize to a U.S. Senate hearing next week for failing to spot money laundering that could have been used to finance terrorism and organized crime.

PSA Peugeot-Citroën, France's ailing carmaker, said Thursday that plummeting demand for its vehicles has prompted it to close a factory that employs 3,000 people.

American International Group, DryShips, Merck & Co, Complete Genomics, SAP AG, Deutsche Bank and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Thursday.