IBT Staff Reporter

Countering accusation of being out of touch, the Obama administration announced plans on Thursday for a We the People online feature that would let anybody create a petition on the White House Web site. Any petition that got 5,000 or more signatures in 30 days would get an official review and response.

Manufacturing unexpectedly grew in August and fewer Americans filed new claims for jobless aid last week, despite a slump in confidence that threatened to push the economy back into recession.

Major automakers posted double-digit U.S. sales gains for August from year-earlier levels, a steady result for a month that began with a plunge on Wall Street and ended with a hurricane shutting down the East Coast.

Smartphone vendor Sony Ericsson said it saw Google's acquisition of rival Motorola Mobility as a move to protect Google's Android software from legal attacks by rivals.

U.S. Tennis star Venus Williams withdrew Wednesday from the U.S. Open after recently being diagnosed with an energy-draining autoimmune disease called Sjogren's syndrome.

U.S. stocks were little changed in a see-saw session that saw light volume on Thursday as investors paused after a four-day rally and ahead of Friday's key payrolls report.

Rite Aid Corp , a perennial laggard U.S. drugstore chain, is enjoying something of a comeback, enticing some big-name hedge funds to buy shares on the bet that a turnaround will send them rising.

The remains of notorious Australian criminal, Ned Kelly, have been found and identified.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc will compensate some home loan borrowers for wrongful foreclosures under an agreement reached with a New York state banking regulator.

General Motors Co said on Thursday that its U.S. sales rose 18 percent in August.

Insatiable demand for safe haven U.S. government bonds is helping mask a potentially huge financial problem -- the need to extend the maturity of debt issued by the United States.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell as expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, showing little sign of a pick-up in layoffs in the wake of a slump in business and consumer confidence.

U.S. retailers reported mixed August sales results after Hurricane Irene drove away business at some chains and boosted it at others.

Wednesday, a solar cell manufacturing company Solyndra announced it would seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Fremont, California-based solar company will lay off all of its 1,100 workers and close down the factory which was built through the fed's loan guarantee.

Stocks gained on Thursday after data showed factory activity cooled in August but was still expanding, easing investors' fears the economy could be headed for another recession.

Insatiable demand for safe haven U.S. government bonds is helping mask a potentially huge financial problem -- the need to extend the maturity of debt issued by the United States.

Labor Day travel is expected to decrease in the wake of Hurricane Irene and an uncertain economy.

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered federal assistance to supplement a number of storm-battered areas and counties in New Jersey, days after Hurricane Irene hit the entire Eastern seaboard on August 27, 2011.

Justin BIeber has been working a lot in the studio these days. He recently tweeted fans about being in the studio with older brother Sean Kingston. He also hit Twitter to ask fans about a name for his upcoming Christmas. A few weeks ago, the Biebs mentioned a remix he was working on of Drake's song Trust Issues. He finally dropped the track on Aug. 28, just before the MTV VMAs.

Scott Air Force Base has tried to deflect concerns by some that a mail room scare forcing the base to temporarily shut down was tied to the 10th anniversary of the Sept.11 attacks.

Tropical Storm Katia is now a Category 1 hurricane, but its impact on the United States, if any, remained unclear as it continued to strengthen on Thursday.

Computer simulations of the weather workings of the entire planet will be able to make forecasts to within a few kilometers accuracy, helping predict the effects of deadly weather systems.

U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly grew in August and fewer Americans filed new claims for jobless aid last week, defying a slump in confidence that threatened to push the economy back into recession.

Chaz Bono, 42, is mostly known as the only child of Sonny & Cher. However, he is also known as an LGBT activist. Bono was born as Chasity, a female. In 1995, Bono came out as a lesbian. In 2008, he began a female to male gender transition process. The legal transition of name and gender was completed in May 2010. A year later, a documentary was released entitled Becoming Chaz that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and debuted on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network later in May. The document...

Chaz Bono, 42, is mostly known as the only child of Sonny & Cher. However, he is also known as an LGBT activist. Bono was born as Chasity, a female. In 1995, Bono came out as a lesbian. In 2008, he began a female to male gender transition process. The legal transition of name and gender was completed in May 2010. A year later, a documentary was released entitled Becoming Chaz that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and debuted on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network later in May. The document...

U.S. IT company IBM is buying Toronto-based risk analytics software firm Algorithmics for $387 million in cash to enhance its financial services capabilities.

Stock index futures fell on Thursday following strong gains over the past several sessions as investors awaited labor and manufacturing data for clues on the state of the economy.

Hewlett-Packard is all set once again for a final round of production of its TouchPad, though a Sterne Agee analyst says its “ confusing” as HP probably lost $200 per unit at $99 sale.

Pop star Madonna thanked her ex-husbands for encouraging her to take up a career in movies, as she arrived in Venice on Thursday for the world premiere of her lavish royal drama W.E.