Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel hoped to forge peace with the Palestinians, but sidestepped a controversy over Jewish settlement that has stalled a resumption of negotiations.
President Barack Obama said on Wednesday police had acted stupidly in arresting a prominent black Harvard University scholar at his own home, weighing in on escalating debate over the treatment of minorities by U.S. law enforcement officers.
U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, sending the Dow industrials above the key 9,000 mark for the first time since January, as strong second-quarter earnings and improving home sales data fueled economic recovery hopes.
U.S. existing home sales notched their third monthly rise in June in a sign the housing industry was slowly healing, but new jobless claims rose last week in a move distorted by unusual seasonal layoffs.
U.S. existing home sales notched their third monthly rise in June and prices hit their highest level since October, fueling hopes that the housing sector is finally on the mend and will help propel a broader economic recovery.
Home sales heat up, Dow breaks 9,000, Ford reports profit
The chances that Canada's Research in Motion will enter a formal bid for the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks are slim as a bidding war develops for technology coveted by the world's leading telecom-equipment makers.
Stocks rallied on Thursday, with the Dow industrials piercing the key 9,000 mark, as investors viewed strong quarterly results from 3M & Co and other companies, plus improving home sales data as signs the economy is stabilizing.
McDonald's Corp reported light June same-store sales on Thursday and shares fell 3.8 percent after the top-performing restaurant chain only matched Wall Street's profit view.
AT&T Inc posted a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit as strong sales of Apple Inc's iPhone helped boost wireless subscriber growth. Some analysts are concerned that the company's dependence on the iPhone for much of its growth raised concerns about what would happen if it lost its exclusive rights to sell the phone in the U.S.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday announced that sales of existing homes in the U.S. rose for the third consecutive month in June, suggesting that the troubled housing market may be hitting bottom, private data showed Thursday. According to the NAR, existing home sales rose to an annualized rate of 4.89 million units which is above the 4.84 million units analysts were expecting. This is fueling hopes that housing and the overall economy is showing signs of recovery.
With previously owned home sales rising for the third straight month, the chief economist at a major realty group says the trend will continue due to tax breaks and the high affordability.
Ford Motor Co posted a $2.3 billion quarterly net profit, mainly due to gains from a $10 billion debt-reduction plan, and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011, sending its shares up 10 percent.
Ford Motor Co posted a $2.3 billion quarterly net profit, mainly due to gains from a $10 billion debt-reduction plan, and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011, sending its shares up 10 percent.
Sales of previously owned homes in the United States increased at a faster-than-expected annual pace in June, an industry survey showed on Thursday, in the third straight month of gains.
An unusually robust rise in home prices from April to May could foreshadow a recovery in many U.S. housing markets, according to a report released on Thursday by Radar Logic, a real estate data and analytics company.
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose roughly as expected last week, but the data was distorted by an unusual pattern of layoffs in the automotive industry.
AT&T Inc on Thursday posted a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit as strong sales of Apple Inc's iPhone helped boost wireless subscriber growth.
The new pandemic H1N1 is causing a brisk flu season in the Southern Hemisphere and U.S. health officials said on Thursday they want to move swiftly to approve a vaccine to battle it.
California lawmakers will vote on Thursday on a budget deal between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and their leaders that balances the state's books by closing an historic $26.3 billion shortfall, largely with deep spending cuts.
Better-than-expected company results, improving French business confidence and a pick-up in UK retail sales offered some evidence on Thursday that stimulus spending was helping to ease the global economic downturn.
United Parcel Service Inc , the world's largest package delivery company, reported an in-line quarterly profit on Thursday and gave a weak outlook for the current quarter, but said its domestic and global businesses appeared to be stabilizing.
