IBT Staff Reporter

Pfizer Inc agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to a criminal charge relating to promotions of its now-withdrawn Bextra pain medicine and will pay a record $2.3 billion to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 medicines.

The Gulf state of Qatar has taken a 10 percent voting stake in Porsche Automobil Holding SE (PSHG_p.DE) as agreed, the German automotive group said on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama is completing work on a new strategy to counter opposition to a U.S. healthcare overhaul and outlining specific areas for compromise, a senior Obama official said on Wednesday.

BMW (BMWG.DE), the world's largest premium carmaker, expects to post U.S. sales growth in the last four months of 2009 as the economy shows signs of coming out of the worst part of the recession, the head of its U.S. operations said on Tuesday.

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.

Maruti Suzuki India (MRTI.BO), the country's top car maker, is confident of maintaining profits and growth despite increasing competition, including from Tata Motors' (TAMO.BO) Nano, the world's cheapest car.

Stocks edged lower on Wednesday, beginning a fourth day of declines, after disappointing reports on the labor market and factory orders increased fears the rally may have run too far ahead of the economy.

Country singer LeAnn Rimes, 27, is divorcing her husband of seven years Dean Sheremet amid allegations that she is having an affair with actor Eddie Cibrian, her co-star in the film

South Korea's largest car parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co (012330.KS) has won a $2 billion order from Chrysler for chassis modules to be used in two Chrysler car models, sending its shares up more than 7 percent.

DJ AM may have committed suicide, according to People Magazine which quotes an unidentified law enforcement source.

The bursting of America's housing bubble in the summer of 2006 triggered the global financial crisis and recession. The sharp fall in house prices that followed caused a dramatic downturn in household wealth, leading to lower consumer spending and an overall fall in GDP. By now, wealth in the form of owner-occupied housing is down about 30%, equivalent to a loss of more than $6 trillion of househo...

Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk is readying a war chest for proceeds from a $1 billion-plus share placement and crossing its fingers the container shipping market may recover in the fourth quarter.

Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) plans to manufacture more car parts itself rather than buying from outside suppliers as part of a bid to boost productivity, the German carmaker's head of production told a German newspaper.

The European Commission could decide to delay Oracle Corp's $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc with less than 48 hours to go before a deadline, two sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

Alcatel-Lucent's research and development strengths and broad customer base make it an attractive takeover candidate for a rival, but it has to clean up its operations before a deal is likely.

Western Lithium Canada Corp said it would raise up to C$15.2 million in private placement to fund ongoing engineering and development studies for the company's lithium project in Nevada.

Canada's Superior Plus Corp said it agreed to buy Pennsylvania-based Sunoco Inc's retail heating oil and propane distribution business for about $82.5 million in cash, to expand its fuel distribution business in the United States.

Sony Ericsson, Alcatel Lucent SA and a private equity arm of JP Morgan are among the candidates shortlisted to buy Nortel Networks Corp's stake in LG-Nortel, media reported on Wednesday.

Manufacturers from several countries including the United States produced some upbeat news on Tuesday, indicating that a recovery from the deepest global downturn since World War Two is slowly gaining traction.

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.

South Africa's Treasury said it was processing an exchange control application from MTN for a proposed tie-up with India's Bharti Airtel, in the clearest indication yet that the deal is proceeding despite some shareholder opposition.

British technology firm IQE Plc forecast a significant growth in sales during the second half and beyond with trading returning to pre-recession levels, but its shares fell 11 percent as investors booked profits.

Taiwan officials have asked the Dalai Lama to cancel public speeches and media events on the island under pressure from an angry China, which fears he will talk politics, a Tibetan legislator said on Wednesday.

Blyth Inc swung to a second-quarter loss, hurt by restructuring and goodwill impairment charges as well as a sharp decline in sales, but the candle maker backed its full-year earnings forecast.

Auto sales in Canada fell for a 10th straight month in August, industry figures showed on Tuesday, though Ford managed to maintain the sales and market-share momentum that it gained in the middle of the industry crisis.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday that his government had put no pressure on Scotland to release the Lockerbie bomber early to improve Britain's trade links with Libya.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc will pay a record $2.3 billion to settle civil and criminal charges about how it marketed some of its drugs under a settlement to be unveiled on Wednesday, a source said.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is in talks with Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to buy a 20 percent stake in broadcaster Rotana Media, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the deal.

Iran is not going to produce a nuclear weapon any time soon and the threat posed by its atomic program has been exaggerated, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said in a published interview.