IBT Staff Reporter

Anonymous, the hacker collective known for its attacks on WikiLeaks detractors, has crossed swords with HBGary and other security firms in retaliation to the HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr's earlier threat.

French bank Societe Generale said it would stick to its 2012 profit target of 6 billion euros ($8.1 billion) after it resisted jittery markets and almost quadrupled fourth-quarter 2010 profit.

He talks of his wife’s death for the first time

French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis agreed to acquire U.S. biotechnology company Genzyme for $74.00 per share in cash or about $20.1 billion plus extra payments linked to experimental multiple sclerosis drug Lemtrada.

Market activity since the start of 2011 has improved from the fourth quarter 2010, which was hit by the rescue of Ireland and sovereign debt fears, French bank Societe Generale's deputy chief executive told Reuters Insider television.

France and Italy have fallen badly behind on pledges to boost their development aid and should follow the example of Britain, which has stuck to pledges despite austerity measures, Bob Geldof said on Tuesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday condemned Iran's crackdown on protesters inspired by Egypt's popular uprising and urged friends and foes across the Middle East to take heed of their peoples' aspirations for democracy.

Emerging markets focused lender, Standard Chartered Bank <2888.HK>, has shuttered its global loans trading unit, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, ending a unique experiment in Asia, as it moves to focus on lending to clients.

Transparency campaigners sued the European Union's executive on Tuesday for withholding documents on free trade talks with India, stepping up pressure on the bloc to make its policymaking less secretive.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday questioned a top executive of Unitech Ltd as part of a probe into a telecoms corruption scandal that has roiled politics and spooked investors in Asia's third-largest economy.

The BSE Sensex edged 0.2 percent higher early on Wednesday, with Tata Steel rebounding after falling initially.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is under severe pressure, his administration derailed from its legislative agenda by a series of corruption scandals that have come to dominate politics.

Investors in Diamondback Capital Management, one of four hedge funds raided by federal authorities last year as part of an insider trading probe, have asked to pull more than $1 billion from the firm, a source familiar with the fund's communications to clients said on Tuesday.

Chinese telecom equipment makers have their sights set on the United States, a massive market that has so far been largely off limits to them because of fears over the security of key national infrastructure.

Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd expects to turn net profitable as it seeks other businesses to add power to its radio muscle by June, its top executive told Reuters late on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended himself on Wednesday against accusations his government was a lameduck, saying it was trying to bring justice in some of the country's biggest corruption scandals in decades.

NEW YORK - Major League Gaming, the largest professional competitive video game league, will be expanding to new markets outside North America thanks to a new partnership with IMG, the global sports and entertainment company.

Shares elsewhere in Asia <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell slightly and U.S. oil prices recovered to nearly $85 a barrel partly due to a surprise drop in weekly crude stocks.

Dell Inc's quarterly earnings and margins blew past Wall Street expectations as component costs slid and corporations replaced aging technology, propelling its shares 6 percent higher.

Nir Rosen - a Left-wing journalist and fellow from the NYU Center of Law and Security - has used this incident to spew his personal venom against Logan on Twitter, calling forth widespread condemnation

Sterling rose in Asia on Wednesday as accelerating UK inflation fueled talk of an early interest rate rise, while a weaker yen helped to send Japanese stocks to the highest level since last May.

BHP Billiton , the world's biggest miner, plans to pour $80 billion into expansions over the next five years and return cash to investors rather than chase ambitious takeovers, after nearly doubling its first-half profit to a record.

The Group of 20 wealthy and emerging nations is likely to encourage emerging countries to let their currencies float more freely when they meet this week, in a repeat of language used last year, a G20 official said on Tuesday.

A frail Bernard Madoff, facing the rest of his life in prison, said a variety of banks and hedge funds were complicit in and had to know about his epic Ponzi scheme before it was uncovered, The New York Times reported.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said his bank will not be goaded into doing something dumb with its capital, even as it prepares an aggressive expansion in consumer and private banking over the next five years.

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co said it filed a motion seeking approval to close 32 stores in six states as the bankrupt grocer tries to fend off growing pressure in the low-margin supermarket business.

A key congressional panel charged with overseeing financial matters plans to question Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives over their multimillion-dollar compensation packages paid for by U.S. taxpayers.

A former JPMorgan Chase & Co private banker has filed a new whistleblower complaint against the bank, saying it ignored many red flags about a suspicious client even after the fraud of another client, Bernard Madoff, was exposed.

Trian Group offered to buy Family Dollar Stores Inc for $55 to $60 per share in cash as billionaire investor Nelson Peltz bet that low-income Americans will watch their pennies for some time yet.