IBT Staff Reporter

Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius ratcheted up the pressure on health insurance companies on Wednesday, urging them to forgo short-term profits to make coverage more affordable and to stop fighting the Obama administration's reform effort.

Bank and technology shares lifted Wall Street on Wednesday on hopes the sectors may be poised for a recovery as the U.S. economy improves.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday said the Obama administration's strategy to halt recession and contain the financial crisis has been effective, but vowed to continue stabilization efforts.

Actor Corey Haim who became famous with the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, has been found dead at age 38, the Associated Press reports.

Legislation that would write into law and widen the proposed Volcker rule to limit proprietary trading was unveiled in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday with the support of five Democratic senators.

Citigroup's launch of preferred securities on Wednesday is a potentially major test of market sentiment, one year after prices of bank bonds and stocks plunged to multi-year lows, analysts said.

Facebook will roll out a new location-based service in April, which will allow users to update their locations automatically.

In a volatile session, NYMEX crude oil futures are up 0.18 percent on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released lower than expected U.S. oil inventories.

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has stopped gasoline sales to Iran, oil traders said on Wednesday, the latest addition to a growing list of firms that have halted supplies under threat of future U.S. sanctions.

Traveling is one of those activities that doesn't need too much encouragement to do. I have to admit, traveling has never really been one of my favorite things to do, but those feelings have intensified since I found out that life isn't as fair as it was when I was ten years old.

* Yen slips amid Japan monetary easing expectations * Pound weakened by surprise drop in industrial output * Euro up vs dollar; Greece comments add to positive view (Recasts, updates prices, adds comment, byline)

New genetic study on the nearly extinct Tasmanian devil, found that 20 percent of the devils have a genetic make-up that could help them fight off the deadly facial tumour disease (DFTD).

Six companies are expected to make binding offers for storied Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a newly set March 19 deadline.

A study paid for by Boeing Co found that a Boeing-built aerial tanker would create 10 times as many new U.S. jobs as the now-withdrawn plan by Northrop Grumman Corp and EADS .

U.S. private equity firm Apollo Management LP has agreed to buy Citigroup's real estate investment division, Bloomberg said, citing a person with knowledge of the deal.

According to the latest findings released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, young male motorcyclists fall in the ranks of Australians who suffer from spinal cord injuries.

According the report from the National Indigenous Health Equality Council, there is an increase in the number of Indigenous babies with low birth weight.

Fertilizer producer Terra Industries Inc said on Wednesday it plans to accept a superior $4.68-billion takeover bid from rival CF Industries Holdings Inc unless Yara International boosts its competing offer.

Ten years ago today, before the dot-com bubble burst, the Nasdaq composite index hit a record 5,132.52 points -- a peak that the technology-heavy market shows no sign of scaling again any time soon.

In the paper published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, papaya leaf extract has been found to boost the production of key signaling molecules called Th1-type cytokines that suggests potential therapeutic abilities that use the immune system to fight cancers in addition to its direct antitumour effect on various cancers.

Following the reports made by a number of Coastal patients that were being scared off getting the swine flu jab, after warnings that it might carry a long list of possible side effects, Dr Emil Djakic Chairman of General Practice Australia, commented that the swine flu vaccine was safe and effective against a highly contagious illness.

The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday as investors snapped up shares of bailed-out financial companies on hopes the sector may be poised for a recovery as the U.S. economy improves, while a drop in oil producer Chevron's stock pushed the Dow slightly lower.

Comparing medical treatments to find the best and the cheapest may be a pillar of U.S. healthcare reform efforts, but very little such research is being done, according to a report published on Tuesday.

Boeing Co is poised to win a sole-source U.S. contract for aerial tankers that could provide a much-needed boost for the company, but the impact is less certain on Northrop Grumman Corp , which dropped out of the race.

With economic policy stimuli already at full tilt, no government wants an overvalued exchange rate to slay recovery, and the rival soft currency needs are producing some elaborate rhetorical jousting.

Shares in several big financial companies bailed out by the U.S. government rose on Wednesday on what analysts said were momentum bets and short-covering on hopes the entities were on the road to recovery.

Telecom firms risk losing a key revenue stream to rivals like Google by leaving valuable customer client data largely untapped and hesitating to invest extra cash to leverage customer information.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon criticized the United States' handling of a multi-billion-dollar aerial tanker competition that saw Northrop Grumman and European partner EADS drop out of the race.

U.S. wholesale inventories fell modestly in January, while sales rose to their highest level since October 2008, suggesting that inventories would continue to support economic growth in the first quarter.