IBT Staff Reporter

Rabbi David Horowitz of PFLAG National (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) has written an open letter to Steve Jobs urging Apple to remove an app from Exodus International, which says the app is a refuge for people looking for help in their journey out of homosexuality and will help cure people of their homosexuality.

Japan's government has said that the cost of March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation woes, which have devastated the country, could reach $309 billion.

Uncertainty over the human and economic damage inflicted by Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis weighed on Asia stocks on Wednesday, and the euro eased ahead of a parliamentary vote in Portugal that could see the government fall.

The Japanese government on Wednesday estimated the direct damage from a deadly earthquake and tsunami that struck the country's northeast this month at 16-25 trillion yen ($185-308 billion), making it the world's costliest natural disaster.

Just days after Microsoft launched its 'beautiful' Internet Explorer 9, a new salvo has been launched into the web browser market - the faster and safer Firefox 4.

Over 200 New York middle school and high school students attended a NASA-led education forum, which gave them a chance to interact with astronaut Cady Coleman aboard the ISS.

The new toolkit released contains recommendations of seven no-cost or low-cost strategies that governors can use to boost college completion rates in their states.

Samsung Electronics Co, the world's No.2 handset maker, denied market speculation of massive inventory build-up in its Galaxy tablet on Wednesday.

The Japanese government estimates material damage from a deadly earthquake and tsunami that struck the country's northeast this month at 15-25 trillion yen ($185-308 billion), making it the costliest ever natural disaster, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Wednesday.

- Japan's government said on Wednesday it estimated damage from the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit northeast Japan this month at about 16-25 trillion yen ($197-308 billion).

NEW YORK - CBS Corp.'s Showtime will keep current, original series off Netflix's streaming video service when a current deal expires this summer.

The following is the IAEA update on Fukushima nuclear power plant in earthquake-torn Japan, dated March 23.

Japan's top lenders including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T> are in talks to provide up to 2 trillion yen ($24.7 billion) in emergency loans to Tokyo Electric Power <9501.T> to help the operator of a stricken nuclear plant rebuild its power supply network.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc chief Lloyd Blankfein will be called to testify at Raj Rajaratnam's insider trading trial as soon as this week, but prosecutors want to prevent him being questioned about any legal issues facing the bank, according to trial documents.

Groupon Inc's president and chief operating officer Rob Solomon is stepping down from his position at the Internet company in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs, who is out on medical leave, has been ordered to answer questions from lawyers for a group of consumers accusing the company of creating a music-download monopoly.

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC lowered the expected range for the price of its initial public offering after delaying its filing as a nuclear crisis in Japan and democracy protests in the Middle East rocked markets.

Japanese financial institutions, including the country's top three banks, are considering providing more than 1 trillion yen ($12.3 billion) in emergency loans to Tokyo Electric Power <9501.T>, the operator of a stricken nuclear plant, sources said on Wednesday.

It's official: with the launch of Research In Motion's PlayBook tablet now just a month away, the BlackBerry maker's battle against Apple and Google is at the cusp of a fierce new phase.

HSBC is sounding out its shareholders over a proposed shake-up of its pay plans that would see top executives assessed on a wider range of performance metrics, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

A U.S. judge on Tuesday rejected a $125 million settlement between Google Inc and authors that would have let the company publish millions of books online to create the world's largest digital library.

Two of the biggest online measurement firms are locked in a battle over alleged patent infringement.

General Motors Co sold its preferred shares in auto lender Ally Financial Inc for $1 billion in what the automaker on Tuesday called a step to strengthen its balance sheet.

NASHVILLE - Contrary to several media reports, Rebecca Black is not netting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the more than 33 million YouTube views of her uber-viral video Friday or its digital sales. However, she's not doing bad.

Adobe Systems Inc posted first-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates, but the world's biggest maker of design software cut its second-quarter revenue outlook by $50 million, citing uncertain business environment in Japan following the earthquake.

Some things hardly change for money manager David Winters.

Sony Corp <6758.T> cut output at five more plants and Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> delayed restarting assembly lines, as the global supply of parts and products began to feel the full impact of Japan's catastrophic earthquake.

United Auto Workers union President Bob King said recent compensation awards for Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Alan Mulally are outrageous at a time when some workers who make Ford vehicles earn $15 per hour.

The glass ceiling remains for women in the American media industry, despite growing numbers of female workers in the sector, a women's media organization said on Tuesday.