IBT Staff Reporter

Nokia and Intel are to merge their top-end smartphone operating systems as they face increasing competition from cellphone industry newcomers Google and Apple.

Many Pakistani lawyers boycotted courts on Monday in a protest against President Asif Ali Zardari, who is embroiled in a potentially destabilizing dispute with the judiciary over the appointment of judges.

U.S. Marines are making steady progress in one of the biggest NATO offensives in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001, but areas infested with roadside bombs are bogging them down, a spokesman said on Monday.

Samsung Electronics and Sony Ericsson unveiled their new top smartphone models on Sunday, both hoping to improve their positions in the more lucrative part of the phone market.

Twenty-four telecom operators have formed an alliance to build an open platform that will deliver applications to all mobile phone users in an effort to compete with Apple's successful apps store.

The Aussie dollar collapsed in early European exchange following the announcement from the PBOC to lift the reserve ratio required by banks by 0.5%, a move aimed at limiting asset bubbles which will also have the effect of slowing economic growth in China.

Japan will start discussing tax reform, including consumption tax, in March, Finance Minister Naoto Kan said on Sunday, in a clear sign ever that it will consider a rise in sales tax to deal with a yawning fiscal gap.

Billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz disclosed that the value of stocks held by his firm Trian Partners fell about 18 percent in the fourth quarter as the company sold stakes in several holdings.

Bharti Airtel has offered up to $10.7 billion for the African assets of Kuwaiti telecom group Zain , Kuwaiti newspapers reported on Saturday, as India's largest mobile operator makes a renewed foreign push.

The new version of the song We are the World premiered Friday evening on NBC during the coverage of the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker warned on Saturday against a further drifting apart of euro zone economies in an interview with a German newspaper.

High-level talks in Luxembourg on Sunday will assess whether there is a future for what remains of bank secrecy in Europe in the face of international pressure, but offshore centers are struggling to find common ground.

Army-ruled Myanmar freed a senior member of the party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday after his period of house arrest for a security breach expired.

India and China are resisting requests to sign up for the Copenhagen Accord for fighting global warming that risks unravelling without clear support from major emitters.

Iraqi officials confirmed on Saturday that appeals by prominent Sunni politicians against a move to ban them from next month's election had failed, opening the door to sectarian recriminations that could mar the vote.

A Georgian luger died in a horrific crash on a training run on Friday, casting a shadow as Vancouver opened the Winter Games with a daredevil snowboarder, an aboriginal welcome, and Wayne Gretzky lighting the cauldron.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned his people to keep a sober mind about the challenges ahead in the new year as the country welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Tiger with noisy celebrations on Saturday.

The Obama administration on Friday invited 12 Democratic members of Congress and nine Republicans to a February 25 conference on healthcare and said it would post its proposal for a legislative overhaul online before the event.

President Barack Obama on Saturday touted the importance of long-term deficit reduction, saying the United States must go through its budget line by line and figure out ways to save money.

U.S. Marines spearheaded one of NATO's biggest offensives against the Taliban in Afghanistan on Saturday, in an early test of President Barack Obama's troop surge policy.

The trio of top executives at British bank Barclays , including Chief Executive John Varley and President Bob Diamond, will forgo a cash bonus for 2009, a person familiar with the matter said.

Groundhog Day, which is celebrated in the U.S. and Canada on February 2nd, has its origins in European weather folklore, where a badger rather than a groundhog is the weather forecaster. The most famous Groundhog Day celebration occurs in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Tradition holds that if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow when emerging from his burrow, as he did this year, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. Overcast conditions and the absence of a shadow signify warmer weather for ...

The euro zone economic recovery is fragile and there are no medium term inflation risks, European Central Bank Governing Council Member Mario Draghi said on Saturday.

The fragility of the euro zone economy and public finances underline the need to extend and strengthen euro-wide economic management, European Central Bank Governing Council Member Mario Draghi said on Saturday.

A snowboarder soared through the Olympic rings and skiers schussed down mountains in the unlikely confines of a stadium as Canada whipped up a wintry wilderness for Friday's opening of the 2010 Winter Games.

The Winter Olympics were officially opened by Canada's Governor General Michaelle Jean in Vancouver on Friday after a ceremony in which the death of an athlete earlier in the day loomed large.

A single snowboarder shot through the Olympic rings in a very Canadian opening salvo for the 2010 Winter Games on Friday, a feat made all the more impressive by his soaring through an indoor stadium.

The U.S. Army on Friday cleared Oshkosh Corp Friday to resume work on a $3 billion medium truck contract, after a month-long reevaluation of all three bids originally submitted for the work.

The U.S. Army on Friday cleared Oshkosh Corp Friday to resume work on a $3 billion medium truck contract, after a month-long reevaluation of all three bids originally submitted for the work.