IBT Staff Reporter

Pfizer Inc agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to a U.S. criminal charge relating to promotion of its now-withdrawn Bextra pain medicine and will pay a record $2.3 billion to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 medicines.

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has not quit the band, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, denying a news report from Australia.

U.S. regulators are seeking ways to make more efficient use of the airwaves as consumers' use of smartphones is expected to surge, the official spearheading the national broadband program said on Wednesday.

For over a decade, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has published annual data on greenhouse gas emissions. EIA typically publishes its inventory report, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States (EGGUS) 11 months after the end of the year for which data is reported. A flash (preliminary) estimate of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions --which account for over 80 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions--is available about 6 months earlier.

Google Inc.'s massive crash of its popular Gmail service was the result of a routine service miscalculation, the company explained late Tuesday, leaving the majority of its 150 million users without access to their email accounts.

U.S. securities and futures regulators took their first steps toward resolving long-standing conflicts on how to oversee markets amid warnings not to stifle innovation and competition.

Oil prices slipped on Wednesday as government data showing a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. crude stocks offset a steep drop in gasoline inventories.

European shares closed lower for a third straight day on Wednesday, with financial stocks suffering the most, as investors took profits after a strong run in recent months.

K-V Pharmaceutical Co. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had accepted its work plan to address previously identified deficiencies in its manufacturing practices, sending its shares up as much as 43 percent.

Salesforce.com Inc introduced software targeted at tiny businesses and individuals that costs $9 a month per user, pricing it for less than a third of its previously least-expensive product.

Stocks edged higher on Wednesday following three straight days of declines after more labor-market data suggested that the economy's recovery remains a slow one.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was invited to Hong Kong as a keynote speaker for an Asian investment conference.

Oil major BP Plc said it has made an oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, which analysts believe could contain over 1 billion barrels of recoverable reserves, reaffirming the Gulf's strategic importance to the industry.

French public works group Vinci risks losing a 1 billion euro ($1.4 billion) rail communications project due to uncertainty over the future of insolvent supplier Nortel Networks Corp.

Nokia on Wednesday bolstered its smartphone line-up to better compete with Apple and said a $820 laptop will lead its foray into the fiercely-competitive PC market.

Research in Motion Ltd Co-Chief Executive James Balsillie will find out on Wednesday whether his bid for the National Hockey League's Phoenix Coyotes will be included in an auction set for next week in federal bankruptcy court in Arizona.

The early bird gets the overhead baggage space -- at least on Southwest Airlines Co.

While consumers in Europe are struggling with the effects of the recession, Germany is a bright spot in electronic devices spending, industry executives said on Wednesday at the opening of Europe's largest consumer electronics trade show IFA.

Whitney Houston performed at New York City's Central Park on Tuesday for her first performance in seven years.

Is it a book? Is it a movie? Is it a website?Actually it's all three. Anthony Zuiker, creator of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation U.S. television series, is releasing what he calls a digi-novel combining all three media -- and giving a jolt to traditional book publishing.

U.S. copper futures slumped to a 1-1/2 week low Wednesday morning, as further losses in global equity markets overnight continued to undermine confidence in the economic recovery and weak U.S. jobs data added to the weight of the move.

Las Vegas Sands Corp, the world's largest casino firm, has secured commitments to raise up to $600 million through the sale of exchangeable bonds, the company said on Wednesday.

Brown-Forman Corp, the maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey and Southern Comfort, reported higher quarterly profit on Wednesday, as lower expenses helped offset the impact of lower sales.

Researchers in Israel say they have developed a computer program that can decipher previously unreadable ancient texts and possibly lead the way to a Google-like search engine for historical documents.

Customers filled more prescriptions at Walgreen Co. but continued to shy away from general merchandise, with sales at stores open at least a year up just 1.9 percent in August and 2.1 percent in the drugstore chain's recently completed fiscal year.

Government incentives that pay motorists 2,500 euros ($3,590) to trade in old cars for new gave Germany's auto market a final boost in August, lifting registrations 28 percent year on year.

Oil rose above $68 a barrel on Wednesday in choppy trade after U.S. government inventory data showed a sharp drop in gasoline inventories but a lower than expected decline in crude stocks.

Pfizer Inc agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to a criminal charge relating to promotions of its now-withdrawn Bextra pain medicine and will pay a record $2.3 billion to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 medicines.

A former Bear Stearns Cos hedge fund manager accused of insider trading urged a federal judge to reject evidence suggesting he improperly tried to use money as collateral to build a condominium and repeatedly ignored conflict-of-interest rules on in-house trades.