UNITED STATES

Mukesh and Anil Ambani buried the hatchet in a five-year battle that split the business empire inherited from their father, but family watchers were sceptical that the reunion would result in renewed business ties.

Stock index futures were slightly higher on Thursday, following a market selloff in the previous session as Italian bond yields fell and investors awaited a new spate of data.

China this week reached a milestone in its drive to master the military use of space with the launch of trials for its Beidou satellite global positioning network, a move that will bring it one step closer to matching U.S. space capabilities.

Alibaba Group has hired a Washington lobbying firm in a sign that the Chinese e-commerce company would be willing to make a bid for all of Yahoo Inc. in the event that talks to unwind their Asian partnership fail.

With constant competition from the likes of Honda and other car manufacturers, Toyota is expected to gain an edge over other environmental or conventional vehicles owing to its fuel friendly variant.

Gold fell to a three-month low on Thursday as prices were weighed down by a firm dollar, while investors remained cautious ahead of an important Italian bond auction later in the day.

Strange as it may sound, the U.S. government has been accused of spreading cancer among South American leaders, by none other than the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

It surely has been an eventful year with popular uprisings, dictators being deposed or slain, royal marriages, celebrity divorces, and thrilling sports achievements, so here's a look at some of the top moments of 2011 as compiled by the IBTimes.

Viagra has finally been proven as a savior for heart aches. The new discovery on Viagra’s surprising 'relaxing' effect might actually save lives, according to researchers from the Ruhr Universitat Bochum (RUB), Germany in collaboration with colleagues from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Iran officials have indicated that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 44-year-old woman who was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, could die by hanging instead.

When Ind-Barath Power Infra Ltd dropped plans for a $200 million IPO earlier this year, it not only thwarted the fundraising plans of its controlling shareholder, but blocked an exit route for a clutch of private equity investors.

Gold prices plunged 1.7 percent Thursday on a strengthening dollar, which was rising ahead of a crucial auction of Italian bonds and fresh worries about Eurozone banks.

When Ind-Barath Power Infra Ltd dropped plans for a $200 million IPO earlier this year, it not only thwarted the fundraising plans of its controlling shareholder, but blocked an exit route for a clutch of private equity investors.

U.S. has withdrawn its media advisers from Afghanistan’s Media center. In an unexpected move U.S embassy in Kabul announced in their website about the withdrawal of it s personnel from the media centre. America was funding and supporting Afgan’s Government Media and information centre (GMIC) for past four years. Embassy said that “the United States is reassessing and reviewing its relationship with the Afghan Government Media Information Center, and thought it appropriate to withdraw U.S. pers...

Asian stocks fell on Thursday, taking cues from weak U.S. and European shares, as players cut positions heading into the year end with an Italian debt auction later in the day keeping markets nervous.

Verizon Wireless is investigating reports that some customers were experiencing trouble accessing its fourth generation (4G) network, a spokesman told Reuters, as the company yet again had to face service problems with its faster wireless service.

A majority of voters still support the controversial Canada-to-Texas oil sands pipeline as the Obama administration again weighs whether to approve or scrap the project, according to a poll released on Wednesday.

Athabasca Oil Sands Corp has won regulatory approval for its MacKay River oil sands project, opening a one-month window that could result in its state-owned Chinese partner taking full control of the development.

The Stuxnet virus that last year damaged Iran's nuclear program was likely one of at least five cyber weapons developed on a single platform whose roots trace back to 2007, according to new research from Russian computer security firm Kaspersky Lab.

Gold wallowed near a three-month low Thursday, remaining under pressure due to a firm dollar, while investors fretted over an important Italian bond auction later in the day.

A small group of committed programmers has taken it upon themselves to build a central network for Occupy groups and protesters around the world, Wired reported on its Threat Level blog. It's partly a function of not wanting Facebook to have access to private activist messages, but it's also an attempt to simplify communications among the many groups.