IBT Staff Reporter

Three pharmaceutical companies have agreed to collectively pay a fine of $421 million to settle charges of inflating drug prices, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Wholesale-market Gold Investment bullion-bar prices slipped back to an overnight low beneath $1380 per ounce Thursday lunchtime in London, trading 0.5% down for the week as world equities crept higher and the US Dollar eased back on the forex market.

Judges in Ohio can be a social media friend to lawyers appearing in their courtrooms but should be careful not to violate ethics rules, the state's apex court has opined.

Former senior U.S. District Judge Jack Camp's judicial decision-making process could have been impaired by drugs or racial bias and aggrieved defendants could request re-sentencing, federal prosecutors have suggested.

Sharp Corp will spend about 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) to build production lines for small and midsize LCDs, with Apple Inc slated to purchase bulk of the output for its iPhone, the Nikkei business daily said.

Charles Manson, who is serving a life sentence for his conspiracy role in the killing of seven people in the Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles, 1969, has been handed down an extra 30 days on his life term after being found in possession of a contraband cellphone within jail premises.

Construction of new homes in the U.S. rose during November but permits fell surprisingly, according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department, indicating that the housing market might face some weakness in the coming months.

UK high court has upheld the lower court's decision to grant bail to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The Swedish prosecutors, who urged the court to revoke the bail, lost their appeal. The court is currently giving out the details of the bail conditions. Assange is likely to be freed on late Thursday.

Microblogging site Twitter has raised $200 million at a $3.7 billion valuation in a funding led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.

Technological advances enabling companies to significantly cut costs have led to strong global growth in start-up activity, an American venture capital pioneer told Reuters.

U.S. stocks gained ground on Thursday after bellwether FedEx offered a bullish forecast and as investors poured money into shares that have done well.

Jobless claims dipped for a second week, suggesting growth in the labor market, but data on home construction showed that sector remains stressed even as the economy shows signs of a pick up.

First-time claims for jobless benefits were essentially unchanged in the latest week, cementing a recent downward trend that remains too modest to bring down unemployment.

Halfway down a muddy slope in the Russian taiga, a team of welders shelters in a small tent to solder two giant steel pipes, bringing Russia 24 meters closer to its Asian oil El Dorado.

The European Central Bank said on Thursday it had decided nearly to double its subscribed capital by injecting 5 billion euros, citing greater market volatility, credit risk and a growing financial system.

Not long ago, if you wanted steak for lunch at the Texan Restaurant, less than two minutes drive from the Nexteer Automotive assembly plant, you had to be in the door by 11 o'clock in the morning. If you arrived any later, you joined a long line with other laggards and waited for a table to open up.

According to Gartner, the industry had a nice recovery in 2010 after two straight dismal years.

A new supercomputer from the Air Force is built out of 1,716 Playstation 3 consoles.

Apple Inc's iPad and bustling retail business have encouraged investors to shrug off the shaky economy and snap up the company's shares as 2010 comes to a close.

AOL Inc. announced its acquisition of New York-based content marketing platform startup Pictela to bolster its advertising offering. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Pictela is a platform for distributing videos, photos and applications across the Web in real time.

Pier 1 Imports Inc's quarterly profit beat Wall Street estimates as the home goods chain's targeted marketing, product changes and decision to stock more seasonal goods paid off.

In measuring your worth, it might be time to invent a new, innovative metric that gets to the heart of the real value you add to your organization, says Harvard Business Review.

The Obama administration is setting conditions' to initiate the 'responsible reduction of US troops in Afghanistan, the White House review of Afghan war stated. The troop withdrawal is likely to commence in July as the review maintained that US strategy in the conflict zone has been showing progress.. It also stated that the Al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan is at its weakest since 2001.

New U.S. claims for jobless aid fell last week and factory activity in the country's Mid-Atlantic region grew at its quickest pace in more than 5-1/2 years this month, indicating the economic recovery is gaining traction.

India and China agreed to bolster bilateral trade and to reduce the massive trade deficit between the two countries, it was announced on Thursday during Chinese PM Wen Jiabao's visit to India.

Bank of America has appealed a bankruptcy court order that it must pay Lehman Brothers Holding Inc about $595 million, according to court documents.

Technological advances enabling companies to significantly cut costs have led to strong global growth in start-up activity, an American venture capital pioneer told Reuters.

South Korea will hold live-fire exercises on Yeonpyeong Island, officials in Seoul stated on Thursday. The military drill, which will be the first such maneuver on Yeonpyeong Island since last month North Korea attack, is likely to revive tension in the region as the North warned nuclear assault in retaliation to any provocations.

Pier 1 Imports Inc's quarterly profit beat analysts' estimates as the home goods chain's targeted marketing, merchandising changes and decision to stock more seasonal goods paid off.