IBT Staff Reporter

The United States wants Israel to stop expanding Jewish settlements without exception, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday, promising that Washington would push this point with its ally.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on the eve of a White House visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Palestinians must also be pressed to meet commitments under a U.S.-backed peace plan.

Costco Wholesale Corp posted a lower quarterly profit on Thursday that fell just short of Wall Street's expectations, as shoppers cut spending on discretionary items like clothes and jewelry.

A multicenter research team has announced encouraging results for an experimental therapy using elements of the body's immune system to improve cure rates for children with neuroblastoma, a challenging cancer of the nervous system.

The U.S. economy is showing signs of stabilizing after suffering the worst economic crisis in decades, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday.

The so-called

The battle over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor began to take shape on Wednesday as liberal supporters praised her as an independent legal thinker and conservatives argued she likely would rule based on her emotions rather than established precedent.

According to Millennium Research Group's (MRG's) Q1 2009 issue of Medtech Economic Quarterly (EQ), the health care and medtech industry has long been considered a recession-resistant segment of the economy; while this may be true, however, it is not recession-immune.

To avert a severe nursing shortage that could cause grave harm to patient care in the state, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation today announced a major new initiative designed to ensure that New Jersey will have the nursing workforce it needs to meet its future health care demands.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped by 13,000 last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, but so-called continued claims hit a new record as the recession took a further toll on job prospects.

Aventis Pharmaceutical Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC, has agreed to pay the United States $95.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misreporting drug prices in order to reduce its Medicaid Drug Rebate obligations, the Justice Department announced today.

The professionals at Arena Salon & Day Spa know what it takes to become a leading Houston Day Spa and Salon. As the hot summer months approach, there are two objectives to keep clients coming back: looking good and preventing sun damage to the skin.

Countless workers in the United States are trapped in jobs they would like to leave because they cannot get health insurance elsewhere, calcifying innovation and mobility in the world's largest economy.

A group of major General Motors Corp bondholders on Thursday gave its support for a revised bond exchange, saying the option of litigation in bankruptcy court was too risky.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods saw their biggest gain in 16 months in April and fewer workers filed for new jobless benefits last week, according to data on Thursday that suggested the deep recession was abating.

Hewlett-Packard Co said on Thursday it plans to cut 5,700 jobs in its Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA) over the next two years.

Three of Canada's largest banks reported stronger-than-expected results on Thursday even as they set aside more money to cover bad loans and detailed a raft of writedowns for credit and market losses.

The pace of economic decline in western Europe is slowing, data showed on Thursday, though activity is still very subdued and prospects for a global recovery are being hurt by the rising cost of borrowing money.

School cafeteria meals like low-fat pizzas with whole grain crust don't taste too bad to Paola Villatoro, a 17-year-old at Downtown Magnet High School in Los Angeles.

OPEC ministers set their sights on oil prices above $70 a barrel as they gathered for talks in Vienna, but they were expected to hold output steady and rely instead on economic recovery to push the market up.

Dunkin' Donuts will mark National Donut Day by offering customers a free donut of their choice with the purchase of any beverage.

Europe's next big move to confront climate change should be to tackle rapidly growing emissions from transport, with more road tolls and greener cars, trains and trucks, a top EU environment official said.

Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes rose slightly less than expected in April, a government report showed on Thursday, and the previous month's figures were revised down to show a steeper fall.

Q-Cells has no plans to further beef up its balance sheet at the moment, as recent steps have secured its mid-term financing position, the company's chief executive has told Reuters.

British clean-fuel companies Oxford Catalysts Group Plc and PolyFuel Inc were awarded government grants in the United States as part of a move to promote alternative energy sources.

One of the season's highest-profile proxy battles is being put to a vote on Thursday as activist investor William Ackman and Target Corp face off at the retailer's annual meeting.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday after key government data indicated the recession may be abating while investors eyed a looming bankruptcy for General Motors.

A Japanese university is giving away Apple Inc's trendy iPhone to students for free, but with a catch: the device will be used to check their attendance.

Costco Wholesale Corp posted a quarterly profit on Thursday that just missed Wall Street expectations, as shoppers cut back on discretionary items like clothes and jewelry.