IBT Staff Reporter

Threats to sensitive computer networks lurk everywhere and with a few mouse clicks, organized criminals and hackers could shut down vital networks that run the U.S. government, industry and military.

U.S. inflation expectations were very stable and well-anchored at a low level despite pronounced swings in the past few years, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.

Britain's General Medical Council has struck Dr Andrew Wakefield from the medical register and found him guilty of serious professional misconduct after he published a research suggesting a link between a common vaccine and autism.

Qatar Investment Authority, the country's sovereign wealth fund, is keen to buy part of the U.S. Treasury's stake in Citigroup Inc , the Financial Times reported in its Wednesday edition.

Shares of Australian brewer Foster's Group jumped as much as 8.7 percent on Wednesday after the company revealed plans demerge its beer and wine operations, leading investors to expect takeover approaches.

Some 20 European banks agreed to reimburse non-U.S. investors for $15.5 billion of losses from convicted swindler Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, but some Swiss lenders remain holdouts, a lawyer for victims said.

The outlook on the United States' coveted AAA credit rating remains stable, though the government's financial strength is weakening due to its support for the financial system, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.

Medical doctors fear that there will be a widespread of Clostridium difficile in Australia when three elderly patients at a Melbourne private hospital were reported to be infected by the bug.

U.S. mortgage finance enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , seized by the government during the financial crisis, will continue to sustain losses on mortgages as house prices drop, their regulator said in testimony made public on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scientists are no strangers to spinning their research, a new study -- presumably not spun -- shows.

Revolution LLC, an investment company created by AOL co-founder Steve Case, is taking a stake in Internet wine seller Vinfolio in a bid to transform the privately held firm into the eBay of fine wines.

U.S. health regulators have cautioned doctors and patients of an increased risk of fractures of the hip, wrist, and spine from high doses or long-term use of a widely used class of drugs to control the amount of acid in the stomach.

University students who are frugal on just baked beans and two-minute noodles are at greater risk of developing chronic diseases, according to a new Australian study.

It was a volatile session overnight, with AUD trading to its lowest level since July 2009, before rebounding back towards USD0.8300.

Experts have recorded a positive outlook on the rising number of Australians seeking treatment to get off heroin addiction. However, it also reveals the nation's sporadic heroin supply.

Microsoft Corp's Robbie Bach, head of its video games and mobile phones unit, is retiring in a management shuffle, as Chief Executive Steve Ballmer tightens his grip over a division steadily ceding ground to rivals.

Gold is one of the more mysterious assets in the financial markets. It's volatile at times to the point of inducing vertigo and fans of the precious metal assert, somewhat contradictorily, its prowess as a hedge against both inflation and deflation.

Three regional Federal Reserve banks last month wanted to raise the discount rate, which the Fed charges banks for emergency loans, according to minutes from Fed meetings released on Tuesday.

(Corrects to show Kansas City Fed, not Richmond, voted for discount rate hike in paragraph 2)

Hewlett-Packard Co overtook IBM as the world's top server maker by sales during the first quarter as customers held off on buying equipment from IBM before new product launches, a research firm said on Tuesday.

With energy, Senate Democrats find themselves between a rock and two hard places. Nonetheless, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., have introduced their climate and energy bill. Its timing is awful. Its fate is uncertain. Yet its sponsors felt it had to be done now.

Volatility continued yesterday with the Aussie opening at 0.8320, then hitting an intraday low of 0.8184 before bouncing back to 0.8300 – and this was just the first few hours.

Two key U.S. lawmakers clashed on Tuesday over cracking down on swaps trading as a clearer shape emerged for a House-Senate panel that must finalize a major rewrite of financial regulation.

U.S. consumer confidence rose in May to its highest level in more than two years as an improving jobs outlook defied for now the growing fears about European debt market turmoil and threats to global growth.

Germany inched toward a wider ban on naked short selling of stocks and Italy approved austerity measures on Tuesday to contain a euro zone debt crisis that could lead U.S. officials to urge stress tests for European banks.

Societe Generale Chief Executive Frederic Oudea defended his role at an annual shareholder meeting Tuesday evening and promised a rebound in 2010 as concerns persisted over the French bank's prospects.

Democrats in Congress are racing against the clock to renew unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans in legislation that also raises taxes on investment-fund managers and multinational companies.

Stocks staged a furious late-day rally on Tuesday to push the S&P 500 into positive territory as the focus shifted from European debt woes to buying after shares hit six-month lows.