IBT Staff Reporter

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said on Wednesday that its endowment shrank 20.7 percent in its last fiscal year as its investments were badly battered by the financial crisis.

Oracle Corp's quarterly software sales came in sharply below expectations, dashing hopes that corporate technology spending is rebounding and sending its shares down 2.7 percent.

Ratcheting up pressure on the largest U.S. bank, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed five current or former Bank of America Corp directors to learn what they knew about Merrill Lynch & Co's problems as the companies prepared to merge.

Twitter is closing a round of funding that will value the company known for its 140-character, stream-of-consciousness blogs at $1 billion, technology news site TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.

Raymond Clark III, the lab technician taken into custody for the murder of Yale student Annie Le forced an ex girlfriend to have sex with him, the New Haven Independent reported today.

The government will have another month to seek an indictment against or reach a settlement with a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc programmer accused of stealing trade secrets.

EU antitrust regulators are in touch with Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc about their search engine deal, a source familiar with the situation said, with the talks seen more as exploratory than indicating any competition concerns.

The founders of Skype are suing its owner eBay Inc and the investor group that has agreed to buy the Internet telephone service, alleging theft of technology, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Paul McCartney topped a poll of Americans' favorite Beatles, but nearly a quarter of those surveyed said they didn't like the British rock group.

Leading U.S. cable operator Comcast Corp said on Wednesday it plans to offer subscribers the option to watch their favorite TV shows on mobile devices through its new wireless Internet service.

Chrysler Group said on Wednesday it would offer leases on its newest vehicles just over a year after sharply tighter credit markets and plunging vehicle values forced it to retreat from the market.

Actor Patrick Swayze made peace with the notion of dying from pancreatic cancer after initially finding his diagnosis a cruel joke, according to a memoir to be published later this month.

Fresh from a visit to Moscow, a gleeful Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pored over diagrams and charts showing his latest arms purchases.

Canada has decided against launching a review of the $1.13 billion sale of the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks to Sweden's Ericsson, Industry Minister Tony Clement said on Wednesday.

Dr. Wayne Carver's office released the autopsy results Wednesday of the 24-year-old Yale graduate student who was killed last Sunday.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $3 billion proposal on Wednesday to further spur research into advanced batteries and other technologies to power electric cars and other vehicles.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he would not make a swift decision on sending more U.S. forces to Afghanistan and set out broad goals for Kabul and neighboring Pakistan to rein in militants and corruption that critics dismissed as vague.

China's e-commerce giant Alibaba.com is to boost domestic market share by encouraging more users to sell products through its online auction site Taobao, China Daily reported on Tuesday.

CKE Restaurants Inc, parent of the Carl's Jr and Hardee's fast-food chains, posted a quarterly profit that was in line with market expectations but revenue missed estimates, sending its shares down 9 percent.

Dress Barn Inc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by tighter cost and inventory controls, but forecast full-year 2010 earnings below market expectations, sending its shares down 3 percent in after-market trade.

The NHS Direct (National Health Service) has published recently its swine flu symptoms checker.

Fisker Automotive Inc, a builder of luxury plug-in hybrids, aims to make a profit in 2011 when its first vehicle, called the Karma, is expected to hit annual sales of 15,000 units, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Tinseltown evening gowns are shimmering and flowing on New York fashion runways this week as many designers shed the stiff, formal styles of seasons past.

Chrysler Group said on Wednesday it would offer leases on its newest vehicles just over a year after sharply tighter credit markets and plunging vehicle values forced it to retreat from the market.

Exxon Mobil Corp's idled 115,000 barrel-per-day gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracker will likely be down for nearly two months for planned maintenance at its 562,500 bpd Baytown, Texas, refinery, traders said Wednesday.

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) plans to produce a new model in India priced as low as $5,000 and targeting emerging countries, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported.

The number of Australians living with HIV has risen by almost 10,000 cases in the past decade and today there are more than 28,000 registered cases of the virus.

Banks, pension funds and other investment groups representing more than $13 trillion in assets called for a strong global agreement on climate policy on Wednesday, saying it would lead to a flood of investment into the low-carbon economy.

U.S. industrial production rose for a second straight month in August, reinforcing views the nation's recession had ended, while a spike in gasoline costs pushed consumer prices higher.