IBT Staff Reporter

General Motors Co. posted a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as disappointing performance overseas offset strong results in North America.

Stock index futures fell on Thursday after a Moody's warning of a possible downgrade of global banks and a further holdup in a bailout for debt-laden Greece.

Moody's warned on Thursday it may cut the credit ratings of 17 global and 114 European financial institutions in another sign the impact of the euro zone government debt crisis is spreading throughout the global financial system.

General Motors Co posted a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as disappointing performance overseas offset strong results in North America.

General Motors Co posted a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as disappointing performance overseas offset strong results in North America.

General Motors Co posted a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as disappointing performance overseas offset strong results in North America, sending its shares down 3.1 percent in premarket trading.

Stock index futures fell on Thursday as a Moody's warning of a possible downgrade of global banks and a further holdup in a bailout for debt-laden Greece kept investors nervous.

The careworn house not far from Santa Monica Boulevard resembles millions of other homes that have been foreclosed on since the calamitous U.S. housing crash four years ago.

MADRID - The Spanish economy shrank for the first time in two years in the fourth quarter, the start of what economists fear could be a prolonged slump as Madrid implements harsh austerity measures to deflate a massive budget deficit.

Greece expressed hope it was within days of finally securing a 130-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout to ease its debt crisis but markets reacted skeptically on Thursday as acrimony grew between Athens and euro zone partners led by Germany.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry is reviewing Google Inc's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc, a ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

European shares fell and the euro eased to a 3-week low on Thursday as a delay in a decision on a crucial bailout for Greece unnerved investors and prompted a pause in the market rally that has marked the start of 2012.

The government stuck to its assessment that Japan's economy is slowly picking up on Thursday and raised its view on consumer spending for the first time in six months, after a resumption of subsidies for fuel-efficient cars boosted sales.

China's ministry of commerce has approved a project that allows the British oil giant to have a presence in block 43/11, a gas field in the South China Sea, the China Daily reported quoting Chen Liming, head of BP China.

Bruce Beresford-Redman, the former producer of Survivor accused of killing his wife during a family vacation in Cancun, Mexico, will stand trial in that country, Los Angeles station KNBC TV reports.

Los Angeles County officials who were widely ridiculed over mistaken reports that they had imposed a $1,000 fine for throwing Frisbees and footballs on the beach now want to dispatch with the misunderstood rules entirely.

The makers of TV comedy Two and a Half Men have told Charlie Sheen to stop using their photos to promote his upcoming new show Anger Management, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Societe Generale , France's second-biggest listed bank, said on Thursday quarterly profit slumped by a worse-than-expected 88.6 percent, hit by toxic assets at its investment bank and further write-downs on its Greek sovereign debt.

Wikileaks comes to Springfield as controversial figure Julian Assange joins the cast of The Simpsons for their milestone 500th episode on Sunday, which will see America's famous animated family being banished from their hometown.

Asian shares fell and the euro slipped to a 3-week low on Thursday as another delay in cementing a crucial bailout for Greece underscored how far Europe is from resolving a debt crisis that threatens the stability of the financial system.

President Obama took the stage at television producer Bradley Bell's house Wednesday, telling about 1,000 supporters that the economy is rebounding and that when he took office, we didn't realize how profound the nature of the crisis was.

President Barack Obama traveled to California on Wednesday for the first time since anti-piracy legislation pitting Hollywood against the tech sector got derailed, ramping up his election-year fundraising with events courting both dueling industries.

Addressing a gathering of U.S. business leaders, policymakers and academics in Washington, Chinese vice-president Xi Jinpin said that more balanced economic ties are needed for the crucial task of addressing the trade imbalance between the two major economies.

Yahoo Inc's efforts to craft a complex $17 billion asset swap with its Asian partners stumbled over how to value Taobao, the fast-growing online retail business owned by China's Alibaba Group, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Retailers in more Chinese cities have been told by authorities to take the popular iPad tablet PCs off their shelves this week, media reports said on Thursday, due to a legal battle between a Chinese technology firm and Apple Inc over trademark issues.

Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba may take its Hong Kong-listed unit Alibaba.com Ltd private at about the price of its 2007 initial public offering for about HK$18 billion ($2.3 billion), the Hong Kong Economic Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba may take its Hong Kong-listed unit Alibaba.com Ltd private at about the price of its 2007 initial public offering for about HK$18 billion ($2.3 billion), the Hong Kong Economic Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Three former executives of Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp were arrested on Thursday over their role in a $1.7 billion accounting fraud at the maker of medical equipment and cameras, Japanese media reported.

Three former executives of Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp were arrested on Thursday over their role in a $1.7 billion accounting fraud at the maker of medical equipment and cameras, Japanese media reported.