IBT Staff Reporter

Private equity giant Blackstone Group posted better-than-expected earnings on Thursday, driven by increased performance fees and improved valuations of its portfolios.

Sen. John McCain criticized President Barack Obama for allowing the current health care proposals to be created through back door deals.

Coca-Cola Co will take control of the North American operations of its top bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc , in a strategic reversal that would close a competitive gap after a similar deal by PepsiCo.

Cablevision Systems Corp reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as its investments lost money and video subscribers defected to competitors.

The Federal Reserve is examining the role that Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs played in helping Greece arrange credit default swaps, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

Nadya Suleman, more popularly known as the Octomom took went on The View for the first time on Wednesday, where she giggle hysterically at awkward questions.

U.S. stocks suffered their biggest decline in three weeks on Thursday after weak employment and durable goods data added to recent worries about the strength of the economic recovery.

Germany survived a scary moment on the world's fastest track in the women's Olympic bobsleigh competition and endured a rare day without a medal at Whistler's Sliding Center on Wednesday.

Demand for a wide range of U.S. manufactured goods unexpectedly fell in January, while new applications for jobless benefits rose again last week, suggesting a step back in the economic recovery.

President Obama and a pair of senators from opposing parties agreed on Thursday on the idea that small businesses should be allowed to pool together to lower health insurance costs.

From moviemaking to architecture, the shamed and banished CEOs of the 2008 credit crisis have opted for some unusual career paths, either by choice or necessity.

NASA officials broke groun near Canberra, Australia on Wednesday, beginning a new antenna-building campaign to improve Deep Space Network communications.

Australia's Lydia Lassila soared through the air on a mountain covered in thick fog and cleanly landed two of the hardest jumps of the day to win Olympic gold in the women's freestyle aerials on Wednesday.

Safeway Inc said fourth quarter sales and margins eroded amid fierce competition on price and renewed worries about U.S. unemployment, sending shares down about 1 percent on Thursday.

Joy turned to despair for South Korea on Wednesday when their victory lap was cut short by news of their disqualification gifting China the Olympic gold in the women's short track 3,000 meters relay.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected in January as civilian aircraft bookings soared, but slipped excluding transportation, government data showed on Thursday.

Slovakia pulled off the biggest ice hockey upset of the Vancouver Games on Wednesday, knocking out defending gold medalists Sweden 4-3 to advance to the men's semi-finals.

Private equity giant Blackstone Group on Thursday said earnings rose sharply from a year ago, beating analysts' estimates, driven by increased performance fees and improved valuations of its portfolios.

Unlike many corporate chiefs, Warren Buffett often plays down the prospects of his company Berkshire Hathaway Inc , while trying to keep investors focused on the long term.

The Canadian men restored order in their Olympic ice hockey house and headed to the semi-finals after a 7-3 rout of Russia on Wednesday, a day of redemption and medal manna from heaven for the host nation.

A killer whale viciously attacked and killed a trainer at SeaWorld park in Florida on Wednesday, but a marine biologist says the whale probably did it because it was bored as killer whales don't normally kill humans in the wild.

A SeaWorld trainer that was killed by a whale in the midst of a public show at the park was attacked because of the swing of her ponytail, an expert at the park in Orlando said today.

Coca-Cola Co plans to buy the North American operations of its largest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc, in a substantially cashless deal.

Will India do it again? That is the question being asked by investors and bullion market analysts now. After India's surprise buying of 200 tonnes of IMF gold in November last year, now several news agency reports said that India is another potential candidate to buy more gold from the International Monetary Fund when it begins selling 191.3 tonnes of the precious metal.

A hacker who brought down and defaced Comcast's website in 2008 may face up to five years in prison.

It seems Australia's mining sector is witnessing the biggest ever boom in its history and almost all mining companies are going through this phase now. According to reports appeared in the Australian media, the country's economy is built on a vast land mass rich in mineral deposits. And the mining sector has experienced five big mining booms, and these have generated periodic surges of export-based wealth from local discoveries or global demand.

WHAT: U.S. January durable goods reportWHEN: February 25 at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT)

The stock market plunged on Thursday as fresh Greece concerns and disappointing U.S. economic data weighed on investors.

Anxious Toyota workers in the automaker's hometown rallied behind their president after he faced a grilling from U.S. lawmakers over the company's safety problems, but many fear the crisis is far from over.