IBT Staff Reporter

The traditional shroud of secrecy around Olympic opening ceremonies has some gaping holes in this age of digital downloads and social networking.

Google Inc. has agreed to acquire Aardvark, a social search engine, as it continues to penetrate the social media business.

The U.S. stock market enjoyed a solid rally today as a better than expected unemployment claims and a retreating dollar lifted commodities stocks.

President Barack Obama on Thursday warned the country's recovery would not be complete until more citizens find work and the United States borrows less money from other countries.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after a pledge by European leaders to support debt-laden Greece eased fears of a broader euro zone crisis and upbeat data from China spurred mining and material stocks.

From Mattel's Puppy Tweets linking pets to a Twitter feed to biodegradable nursery toys, toy makers are focusing on fun technology and green materials to win sales in 2010.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, welcome news for the White House as it predicted more than a million jobs will be created this year.

Commodities stocks continue to be the best performing in Thursday's U.S. stock market while financials, especially European banks, still lag.

A Paris tribunal found Ebay Inc guilty of misleading consumers by using misspelt versions of luxury brand Louis Vuitton as search engine key words to redirect users to Ebay website links.

President Barack Obama will sign an executive order establishing a commission to tackle the federal government's long-term fiscal challenges in the next 10 days or so, the White House said on Thursday. Obama, who hopes to persuade Republicans as well as members of his own Democratic party to serve on the debt panel, had been expected to set it up this week. But this plan was disrupted by a severe winter storm that dumped heavy snow on Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

SGI is rolling is rolling out a hosted super-computing service in what it hopes will open up a 'new era of discovery' for scientists and businesses.

The euro fell against the dollar on Thursday as investors were disappointed with the lack of details regarding a European Union deal to support heavily-indebted Greece. The euro zone currency also dropped against the yen and sterling after European leaders sought to prop up Greece with words of support at a summit on Thursday, but failed to make concrete pledges, describing the promise of support as a political statement.

Zynga said on Thursday that it would buy Serious Business as the online game provider, often seen as a top IPO candidate, expands its stable of social games on Facebook.

Merlin Entertainments, the Blackstone-owned theme park operator, said on Thursday it had no near-term plans to go public, a day after Blackstone-backed travel services group Travelport scrapped its London listing, blaming market instability.

The White House announced on Thursday that President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama would meet on February 18, despite China's warning that such talks could hurt already-strained Sino-U.S. relations.

Mehdi Karroubi, a major opposition leader in Iran, was reportedly attacked at a rally marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, his son told UK's BBC.

European leaders struck a deal to provide financial aid to Greece on Thursday, in an unprecedented move to stave off a broader crisis in the 16-nation bloc that shares the euro single currency.

Stocks rose on Thursday as appetite for riskier assets returned after a pledge by European leaders to support debt-ridden Greece eased fears of a possible sovereign default.

Researchers found that of 219 children born before the 26th week of pregnancy, 8 percent met the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at age 11. That compared with none of 153 classmates who were born full-term and included in a comparison group.

Viacom Inc's profit surpassed expectations thanks to a round of cost-cutting and brisk sales of DVDs like Star Trek and Transformers 2 -- but the results were marred by signs that advertising has yet to improve.

About 87 percent of cars recalled by Honda this week were cars sold in the U.S., according to data released by Honda on Wednesday.

European leaders sought to prop up Greece with words of support at a summit on Thursday but failed to offer concrete proposals to help the country tackle its debt crisis, prompting a negative market reaction.

Sweden took the number one spot from the United States to top the annual rankings on the usage of telecommunications technologies such as networks, cellphones and computers, a report released on Thursday shows.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, welcome news for the White House as it predicted more than 1 million jobs will be created this year.

Greece needs psychological and political support from Europe and does not envisage calling on the International Monetary Fund for help, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Top U.S. executives say their companies are moving out of the defensive position they adopted during the recent worldwide downturn and are aggressively planning to grow, according to the latest semiannual survey by the Business Council.

U.S. stocks rose in choppy trading on Thursday as European leaders pledged help for debt-ridden Greece, removing some uncertainty about a possible sovereign default.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as investors shrugged off their early disappointment in the lack of details for the Greece aid package.

A former Spanish intelligence officer has been jailed for 12 years for trying to sell state secrets to Russia, the first treason conviction in Spain since the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975.