IBT Staff Reporter

UBS AG will cut its staff by 11 percent as it moves to stem losses and client withdrawals, its chief executive said on Wednesday, warning Switzerland's No.1 bank still faces an uncertain future.

The Thai government considered new measures to revive the economy on Wednesday, a day after the end of violent protests that further dented confidence in a country heading into recession.

Israel does not plan to cooperate with a U.N. agency's investigation into alleged war crimes by Israeli troops and Hamas militants during fighting in Gaza, an Israeli government official said Wednesday.

AMR Corp , parent of American Airlines, on Wednesday reported a quarterly net loss on weaker travel demand, although it was much smaller than expected.

Showing a commitment to reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, the commercial real estate sector is partnering with the Department of Energy in a program launched Thursday called the Commercial Real Estate Energy Alliance.

On Wednesday the head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc said he did not see a quick end to the recession as there was still lot of stress present in the economy.

The S&P and Nasdaq indexes slipped on Wednesday in choppy trading as tech shares tumbled after Intel Corp said uncertainty ruled out a clear revenue forecast, underscoring worries about a lack of corporate visibility ahead.

North Korea has ordered U.N. inspectors to leave its Yongbyon complex, after saying it would quit international nuclear disarmament talks and restart the plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium.

Political unrest flared again in Thailand this week, after protesters loyal to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra forced the cancellation of an Asian summit, and two people were killed in violence in Bangkok.

China's muted response to North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship reflects the dilemmas dogging Beijing as it seeks to coax Pyongyang back to disarmament talks while fearing for the health of Kim Jong-il and his regime.

A meeting of Pakistan's allies and donors this week could give Iran a chance to show willingness to play a more active role in stabilizing the region, Japan's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Wednesday.

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors turned off surveillance cameras and left the site of North Korea's nuclear bomb program on Pyongyang's demand on Wednesday, a diplomat close to the IAEA told Reuters.

A suicide car-bomber blew himself up at a security post in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing nine policemen and three civilians, police said.

A French frigate captured 11 pirates off the coast of Somalia after foiling an attack on a Liberian-flagged merchant ship, the French defense ministry said on Wednesday.

Rebuilding the central Italian region of Abruzzo after last week's devastating earthquake will cost 12 billion euros ($15.9 billion), Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said.

Oil fell below $50 on Wednesday, after U.S. crude oil stocks rose last week to their highest level in nearly two decades.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called on Wednesday for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, hoping that a U.S.-Russian pledge to join forces to eradicate nuclear weapons will encourage the region.

The Dow industrials rose on Wednesday following better-than expected manufacturing data while the Nasdaq headed lower as Intel Corp said uncertainty ruled out a clear revenue forecast.

Black American community workers are wrestling with how to translate their pride over Barack Obama's presidency into tangible gains for a racial minority that often lags behind the rest of the country.

The Obama administration will name former Justice Department official Alan Bersin to oversee its policy on illegal immigration and drug-related violence along the U.S. border with Mexico, Politico reported on Tuesday.

Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine said on Wednesday it will cut working hours for thousands more of its staff as the global downturn cripples demand for steel.

A young Guantanamo prisoner from Chad was given permission to telephone a relative but instead called the al Jazeera television network and said he was being beaten and abused at the U.S. detention camp.

Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday its Nigerian joint venture has declared force majeure on the country's Bonny Light crude oil exports in April and May.

U.S. banks have been told to keep quiet for now about results of a sweeping regulatory checkup into their health, raising questions about whether investors are being wrongly kept in the dark.

Burger King Holdings Inc said on Wednesday it saw a surprise drop in customer visits to its restaurants in March and its shares plunged more than 16 percent.

Japan's Santen Pharmaceutical Co agreed to license to Merck & Co Inc its glaucoma and ocular hypertension drug tafluprost, in a move to help drive global sales of one of Santen's key products.

U.S. senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry arrived in Sudan Wednesday for a three-day visit as the diplomatic detente between Washington and Khartoum shows further signs of a thaw.

Lindsay Lohan is looking for a lover who does not mind her alleged alcoholism or electronic monitoring bracelet, or so the famously troubled Hollywood actress said in a mock Internet dating profile.

Rahul Gandhi's speech may have been wooden and the applause sparse, but that didn't matter for dozens of party cadres who trailed his every move on a campaign stop in northern India.