IBT Staff Reporter

In wake of the Chris Lee 'shirtless' adventures online, the slideshow recalls some of the non-presidential political sex scandals of the past in photos.

Global miner Rio Tinto surprised investors by more than doubling its full-year dividend and promising to return $5 billion to shareholders by 2012, looking to soak up bumper cashflows after it reported a record second-half profit.

Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent struck an upbeat tone for 2011, keeping an ambitious free cash flow target and reassuring investors on its profitability as it nears the end of its turnaround plan.

Global miner Rio Tinto reported a record second-half profit on Thursday, more than double a year earlier, bolstered by surging iron ore and copper sales.

The Hong Kong stock exchange said on Thursday it will consider international alliances after Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext announced plans to form the world's biggest trading powerhouse.

Global miner Rio Tinto reported a record second-half profit on Thursday, more than double a year earlier, matching forecasts as its biggest customer, China, snapped up iron ore, coal and copper.

Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent struck an upbeat tone for 2011, keeping an ambitious free cash flow target and reassuring investors on its profitability as it nears the end of its turnaround plan.

Construction of a world's fastest car designed to set a land speed record of 1,000 mph has begun in Britain.

Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent set an adjusted operating target of 5 percent of 2011 sales, the lower end of what it had previously told investors it would achieve.

NEW YORK - Freddie Mac said its Chief Operating Offier is resigning on Wednesday, effective immediately.

Asian stocks suffered a second session of sharp losses on Thursday, while the dollar struggled to make much headway after the U.S. central bank chief signaled the recovery in the world's biggest economy was still fragile.

Activision Blizzard Inc's first-quarter outlook missed Wall Street expectations and it will shut down the unit that makes Guitar Hero music games, sending its shares down more than 7 percent.

Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> is set to expand operations in Russia, partnering with Russian automaker Sollers to help build Toyota-brand cars in the far east of the country as it pushes further into emerging markets, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Google Inc and Facebook Inc, plus others, have held low level takeover talks with Twitter that give the Internet sensation a value as high as $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Asian stock markets fell on Thursday, while the dollar struggled to make much headway after the U.S. central bank chief signaled the recovery in the world's biggest economy was still fragile and warned against sharp spending cuts.

A married New York congressman accused of sending a shirtless photo of him and flirty messages to a woman has abruptly resigned from his seat on Wednesday.

Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc's CEO John Chambers spooked investors for the third time in as many quarters, warning of dwindling public spending and weaker margins from tough competition.

The U.S. government should only back home loans as a last resort in times of economic stress and should explicitly charge for that support, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.

Executives at microblogging company Twitter Inc. have held low level talks with executives at Facebook Inc and Google Inc in recent months, about a possible takeover of Twitter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday warned against sharp cuts in spending at a time when the economic recovery is still fragile enough to require extraordinary support from the central bank.

Influential venture capital outfit Andreessen Horowitz has invested $80 million in microblogging phenomenon Twitter, adding to its growing portfolio of social Web names.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether exchange-traded funds are being used to hide insider trading, according to the Financial Times.

Cell phone maker INQ Mobile unveiled on Thursday its first two smartphones running Google's Android software, aiming to benefit from booming growth in social networking.

Cell phone maker INQ Mobile unveiled on Thursday its first two smartphones running Google's Android software, aiming to benefit from booming growth in social networking.

The U.S. economy may not need further help from the Federal Reserve when its $600 billion stimulus plan runs out in June, but that decision will hinge on the path of the economy, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

Activision Blizzard Inc's first-quarter outlook missed Wall Street expectations and it said it would disband the unit that makes Guitar Hero music games, sending its shares down 8 percent.

Ford Motor Co sued luxury automaker Ferrari on Wednesday for trademark infringement after Ferrari named its 2011 Formula 1 racing car the F150.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's recent bond purchases have had a helpful effect on financial conditions, with the rise in long-term interest rates largely due to economic optimism, a senior Fed official said on Wednesday.

U.S. securities regulators moved to scale back market reliance on credit rating agencies, after the financial crisis laid bare the industry's shortcomings.