IBT Staff Reporter

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it is in a strong financial position and has the resources to help member countries in need, amid an escalating euro zone debt crisis.

After racking up strong earnings growth in 2010, major U.S. manufacturers are expect to set the stage for a slower-paced 2011 when they meet with analysts and investors to lay out their expectations for the coming year.

The cryptographic kernel of its BlackBerry 6 mobile operating system has earned the FIPS 140-2 security certification, said Research In Motion.

The disappearance of coastal wetlands around the world by the end of the 21st century is a distinct possibility, a new study finds.

The Federal Communications Commission has committed to the concept of net neutrality, but the spat between Level 3 and Comcast highlights some difficult enforcement issues.

Wall Street rose on Thursday, led by banks and home builders after European lenders decided to continue a liquidity safety net for vulnerable banks and pending home sales data showed an unexpected jump in October.

IBM unveiled a technology that uses pulses of light instead of electrical signals to transfer data between chips, advancing its plans to create a supercomputer capable of one million trillion calculations per second.

General Motors Co said on Thursday that it made a $4 billion cash contribution to pension plans for its U.S.-based hourly and salaried workers.

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes unexpectedly surged in October, data from a real estate trade group showed on Thursday, despite concerns that problems in the foreclosure process might curtail activity.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) goes Google. GSA will move 17,000 employees and contractors to Google apps for Government.

The highest Court in Sweden has rejected Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's appeal against his detention orders on Thursday. The Apex Court confirmed the earlier decision of the Svea Appeals Court to uphold the detention order. Earlier this week Assange's lawyer appealed against an arrest warrant issued against the 39-year-old Australian.

Nikola Zigic sent Birmingham City to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup with a winner six minutes from time against arch-rivals Aston Villa provoking ugly scenes at the St Andrew's stadium, while Ipswich beat West Brom to grab the last semi-final spot.

The mounting pressure of US government forced Amazon to oust Wikileaks website from its servers. Web users across the world, yet again, called for a boycott of Amazon.

Azim Premji, India’s third richest man and chairman of Wipro, India’s third largest software services company, will transfer 213 million equity shares, or about 8.6 percent of his stake, valued at 88.46 billion rupees ($2 billion), to a private trust controlled by him.

PepsiCo Inc. announced an agreement to acquire 66 percent of Russia's dairy and fruit juice company Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods for $3.8 billion to boost its base in key markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Upon completion of the deal, PepsiCo will be around twice the size of its nearest food and beverage competitor in Russia.

US diplomatic cables leaked by whistle-blower site Wikileaks suggest that even as Russians are eagerly awaiting the dates of elections in 2012, the outcome is almost decided. American officials believe that Vladimir Putin, the current Prime minister would continue to influence the course of the country's politics no matter what role he plays in it.

Economic growth in the euro zone slowed down in the third quarter, according to the first estimate by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Ang Lee finalizes Indian cast for 'Life of Pi' and casts Tabu to play Pi's mother the movie.

Michael Douglas is preparing to shoot a new film soon after finishing his cancer treatment

Eva Longoria and Tony Parker were spotted on a lunch date together spurring rumours of reconciliation

The Stanford Law School and the Graduate School of Business have come together to drive the energy revolution forward through the establishment of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance - an interdisciplinary center to study and advance the development and deployment of clean energy technologies through innovative policy and finance.

Subaru of America, Inc. on Wednesday reported that its US auto sales went up 22 percent in November 2010, led by strong growth across major models.

Satoshi Kanawaza, an LSE psychologist, used evolutionary psychology theories to explain politically incorrect truths about human nature.

Brewer and pubs group Marston’s Plc said it has made a strong start to the new financial year even as it reported a rise in profits for the 52 weeks ended Oct. 2.

Europe's biggest tour operator TUI Travel reported a full-year pretax loss, blaming weaker trading in the UK, mainly due to increased winter losses resulting from capacity-led volume reductions. However, underlying pretax profit rose 4 percent on good turnaround progress.

U.S. securities regulators are in preliminary talks with several banks to resolve probes involving sales of complex mortgage bond deals that led to the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

American Honda Motor Co on Wednesday reported that its US auto sales data rose 16.1 percent, led by by strong sales of cars and sports utility vehicles alike.

Hyundai Motor America on Wednesday reported that its US auto sales soared 45 percent, led by strong gains from its Sonata, Tucson and Genesis models.

Kia Motors America on Wednesday reported that its US auto sales soared 48.2 percent, led by strong sales of Sorento models and recently introduced vehicles - the Soul, Forte and Forte Koup, and the Sorento, Sportage and all-new Optima.