IBT Staff Reporter

It took only a few weeks of research for Romanian entrepreneur Emi Gal to decide where to base his digital media firm, and his choice confounds a fairly enduring set of stereotypes about Britain's global appeal.

Walgreen should emerge from the downturn in an even stronger position, the company told investors at its annual meeting on Wednesday.

As the economic downturn persists, lawmakers are increasing tobacco product taxes. This is changing the tobacco market, says 7 Leaf Trading Post CEO Ric Gardiner, and Native American and all-natural cigarettes may be a big beneficiary.

A plan by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to join a consortium advocating revenue transparency earned the praise of those watching its emerging oil sector. Maliki during the weekend announced plans to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative by becoming an EITI candidate country in February.

A Canadian woman who was trapped under rubble in quake-stricken Haiti appeared to have been rescued on Wednesday after she texted Ottawa for help.

Struggling jewelry chain Zale Corp said on Wednesday that its chief executive officer and other top executives have left the company in a management shakeup designed to help return the company to profitability.

The devastating earthquake in Haiti is the biggest natural disaster so far in the Twitter era, and response on the micro-blogging site has been accordingly momentous.

Cyber attacks on Google Inc's China operations could scare businesses and consumers into spending more on protection, benefiting security companies like McAfee Inc, Symantec Corp and Trend Micro.

Google's threat to quit China over censorship and hacking intensified Sino-U.S. frictions on Wednesday as Washington said it had serious concerns and demanded an explanation from Beijing.

Wall Street's chiefs acknowledged taking on too much risk and having choked on their own cooking, but stopped short of an apology as they sparred with a commission looking into the origins of the financial crisis.

Time Warner Inc, Lions Gate Entertainment and private equity firms are among those weighing potential offers for the debt-ridden MGM studio, but no bids have come in yet, several sources familiar with the matter said

- The public flogging Wall Street's elite are taking over their fat bonuses at Wednesday's Senate banking hearings may shame them into a show of remorse, but will it convince them to slash their pay?

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke urged China on Wednesday to ensure a secure commercial environment for Google and other U.S. companies after the world's top search engine said it may shut its Chinese-language website because of cyber attacks.

The Obama administration is broadening the standards for how the U.S. government funds public transportation projects in order to disburse money quickly and improve the environment.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) expects new members to join at its next meeting while China and world top oil exporter Saudi Arabia are to attend as observers, its head said on Wednesday.

The devastating earthquake in Haiti is the biggest natural disaster so far in the Twitter era, and response on the micro-blogging site has been accordingly momentous.

Commercial real estate was still soft across the United States, according to a compilation of reports from Federal Reserve Bank districts known as the Beige Book.

U.S. chocolate maker Hershey Co is still working on a bid for Cadbury Plc that would top Kraft's hostile $17 billion takeover offer, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday that the U.S. economy is nowhere near a full recovery and forecast 2010 as a year of moderate growth for the nation's automotive industry sales.

Increasing numbers of poker machines continue to create new problem gamblers, with no saturation point ever being reached in a community, new research has found.

The potential benefits of acupuncture for women with fertility difficulties will be examined in a unique clinical trial at the University of Western Sydney.

U.S. mortgage bonds at the heart of the financial crisis may be revived by Wall Street as soon as this quarter, in what could be the most significant step yet toward repairing the credit and housing markets.

A University of Queensland study has found that females who experience early puberty have increased levels of aggression.

Online social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are now firmly implanted in the cultural mainstream.

Macquarie University and Google have once again teamed up for an Australian first - this time by agreeing to provide 6,000 Gmail accounts to the University's research, teaching and administrative staff.

A new QUT study aims to help cancer survivors improve their quality of life, both physically and psychologically, when they have completed their treatment.

Leisure is becoming a forgotten word and academics from The University of Queensland want to put it back into people's lives.

U.S. economic activity remained at a low level as 2010 began but was improving modestly and beginning to broaden out to include wider swaths of the country, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

The Australian Government today has continued its fight against breast cancer with the announcement that Australian women at risk of breast cancer will be able to be screened by the latest technology as early as next week.