IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. stocks extended their recent rally on Wednesday, with the Dow industrials rising back into positive territory for the year, as the euro-zone rescue fund was set to get approval from all EU members.

A British government minister sharply criticised Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday and said it would be premature for Commonwealth leaders to hold out an olive branch to Zimbabwe when they meet later this month.

Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has a narrow vote lead over her main presidential rival Winston Tubman, according to a tally by a local independent media group of ballot slips counted so far on Wednesday.

Fighters loyal to deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are now holding out in just two small pockets of his home town Sirte on Wednesday, government commanders said after making gains overnight.

Canon has so far seen no downturn in sales sparked by the European financial crisis, but cannot predict its effect on the year-end shopping season, the company's chief financial officer told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Nigerian man accused of trying to use a bomb in his underwear to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day 2009 pleaded guilty on Wednesday to all charges against him and warned the United States could face a great calamity.

Stock exchanges from six of the world's largest emerging markets will join forces to cross-list equity indexes derivatives, to target investor demand for fast-growing economies.

The recent weakness of the rand will benefit South African exporters and is positive for the economy, the treasurer general of the ruling African National Congress said on Wednesday.

In an updated statement filed with the SEC, News Corp. says the board is adequately addressing the phone-hacking scandal and is delivering money to shareholders.

In a restaurant in the once bustling Hamidiyah souk of the old city of Damascus, waiters prepare to serve a handful of customers in an ornate room with many empty tables. A singer now performs there weekly, instead of every day.

Tuberculosis cases are decreasing for the first time in more than 20 years, the World Health Organization announced on Tuesday. But that progress may be threatened if Congress cuts foreign aid for prevention and treatment programs.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is finally seeing sustained improvement at its U.S. discount chain, with sales at Walmart stores open at least a year rising for three months straight, Walmart U.S. Chief Executive Bill Simon said on Wednesday.

PepsiCo Inc posted a slightly better than expected quarterly profit and affirmed its full-year goal despite a smaller boost from foreign exchange, sending its shares up more than 3 percent in morning trading.

The chief executive of Solyndra, a failed solar panel maker with a $535 million federal government loan guarantee, has left the company, according to documents filed by the company in bankruptcy court.

As Occupy Boston entered its second week, 141 occupiers were arrested early Tuesday morning, with a video footage released with police seen attacking the peaceful protesters.

Investors will look to handset vendors' quarterly reports in coming days for signs of how much the global economic slowdown will hit cellphone sales in the crucial year-end shopping season.

Businessman Herman Cain is leading former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by the slimmest of margins in South Carolina, which will hold one of the first presidential primaries next year.

Learn about these eight travel scams before booking your next trip and you'll be traveling like a pro.

Stocks opened higher on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its sixth winning day in the past seven on optimism that Slovakia would reach a deal to expand the euro zone rescue fund.

Parties in the outgoing Slovak government began talks with the opposition on Wednesday to reach an early agreement on ratifying a plan to strengthen the euro zone's EFSF rescue fund.

The CEO of failed solar panel maker Solyndra LLC has left the company, just weeks after he declined to answer questions posed by a congressional panel that was investigating a $535 million government loan to the company.

Russian researchers recently claimed that they have found the indisputable proof of the existence of yeti, dubbed abominable snowman, in Siberia, because they discovered a few strands of hair and some tracks in the snow.

Hurricane Jova made landfall along Mexico's western coast early Wednesday with sustained winds of 100 miles per hour, which decreased to 75 miles per hour as the storm moved inland.

Shares of Alcoa Inc dropped 3 percent on Wednesday after the biggest U.S. aluminum producer posted lower-than-expected quarterly earnings and warned of weak economic conditions, particularly in Europe.

Stocks opened higher on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its sixth winning day in the past seven on optimism that Slovakia would reach a deal to expand the euro zone rescue fund.

Parties in the outgoing Slovak government have reached an agreement with opposition leader Robert Fico to ratify a plan to strengthen the euro zone's EFSF rescue fund, TA3 television reported on Wednesday. It gave no details.

Italy braced for a confidence vote in Silvio Berlusconi's government and Slovak leaders scrambled to secure approval for a stronger euro zone rescue fund on Wednesday, highlighting the political hurdles to resolving the bloc's debt crisis.

Stocks were set for a higher open on Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its sixth day of gains in the past seven on optimism Slovakia would reach a deal to expand the euro zone rescue fund.

France's cabinet on Wednesday approved a law paving the way for the government to guarantee over one third of Franco-Belgian lender Dexia SA's potential losses on toxic debt, as called for in a rescue deal inked early this week.