IBT Staff Reporter

Watching his sons kick around a makeshift ball made from tightly bound plastic bags, Ugandan handyman Jackson Mawa marvels at the way business has improved since he bought a solar-powered mobile phone.

U.S. retail and food services sales fell 1.5 percent in September compared with August due mostly to a sharp decline in motor vehicle and parts sales, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co quarterly profit rocketed to forecast-beating $3.6 billion as bond trading revenue surged, boosting optimism about a strengthening rebound in top Wall Street banks.

The U.S. Treasury Department is pushing American International Group to cut big pay incentives it claims were needed to keep staff, but which have stoked a controversy over pay at taxpayer-supported firms.

The U.S. Treasury Department is pushing American International Group to cut big pay incentives it claims were needed to keep staff, but which have stoked a controversy over pay at taxpayer-supported firms.

Stocks jumped on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co posted a surge in profit, following stronger numbers from Intel Corp a day earlier in an auspicious start to third-quarter earnings season.

Despite some signs that the worst of the U.S. residential housing crisis may be over, many wealthy homeowners are still being squeezed by the combination of weak home prices and the stock market crash.

South African IT company Datatec posted lower first-half headline earnings, in line with its own forecast, and said it was looking to expand given the worst of the downturn was over.

Oil surged for a fifth day on Wednesday to a 2009 high above $75 a barrel, boosted by a weak dollar and optimism about a global economic rebound that will lead to higher energy demand.

Despite fears of failure facing global climate change negotiations in December, the U.N. climate panel chief said Wednesday it was still possible to agree a pact, including levels of emission cuts by rich nations.

South Korea's LG Display said on Wednesday that it would set up a joint venture for a proposed $4 billion LCD plant in China, as Asian panel makers rush to increase their presence in the fast-growing Chinese TV market.

Following are the negotiating positions of the top greenhouse gas emitters in the run-up to a U.N. meeting in Copenhagen in December due to agree a new pact for combating climate change

ASML's results soared above expectations as its customers in the semiconductor sector ramped up investments, and the Dutch chip equipment maker forecast a further flood of orders in the fourth quarter.

Al Martino, a crooner who had several pop hits spanning more than 20 years and played Johnny Fontane in the 1970s Godfather movies, died Tuesday at his childhood home in Springfield, Pa. He was 82.

Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino will be tackling more mother-daughter relationships in a project for HBO.

Australia's government will be asked to exempt farmers from carbon trading in order to pass landmark emissions laws through parliament under changes being pushed by opposition lawmakers on Wednesday.

China-focused Fortune Oil Plc said on Wednesday an independent resource evaluation raised its gas resource estimate at the company's Liulin block in Shanxi Province, tripling the possible reserves to 84.8 billion cubic feet (bcf).

U.S. meat processor National Beef filed plans to raise up to $300 million in a U.S.-listed initial public offering.

Las Vegas Sands, which is seeking to raise up to $2.5 billion by listing its Macau assets on the Hong Kong stock exchange, could launch its initial public offering by late November, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

British home shopping company N Brown said it could enter the potentially lucrative United States market next year as it posted record first-half results and a positive outlook, sending its shares higher.

In Shakira's hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia, there's a 15-foot metal statue of her, wearing bell bottoms and strumming a guitar. It was donated by a German sculptor in 2006, in the midst of the singer's wildly successful Oral Fixation world tour, which featured her jaw-dropping belly-dancing and a finale of Hips Don't Lie with Wyclef Jean.

CIT Group Inc Chief Executive Jeffrey Peek, whose plans to turn the sleepy commercial lender into a Wall Street player were laid low by the credit crisis and management missteps, is retiring in the latest sign the company is closer to filing for bankruptcy.

Bloomberg LP will buy BusinessWeek magazine from McGraw-Hill Companies as the news and data provider seeks to reach a wider audience than its traditional clients in financial services.

Benjamin Bratt will guest star on ABC's new comedy series Modern Family, playing the ex of Sofia Vergara's character.

Smaller Letdown; Retailers drop; Big bank profit

Former Formula One champions Williams will have a new engine partner next season after announcing the end of their Toyota deal on Wednesday.

Giant buyout funds are likely a thing of the past, and new cash raised will be for medium-sized, specialist funds, a top executive of British private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd said on Wednesday.

A few months after the Beatles box sets made retailers scramble to fill orders, the King of Rock 'n' Roll is getting the royal treatment.

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc's third-quarter results surpassed analyst expectations on Wednesday aided by higher-than-expected revenue, four hotel sales and a nearly 10 percent reduction in costs.