IBT Staff Reporter

Microsoft Corp expects several phones on the U.S. market to be powered by its Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system after it launches in the fall of 2009, according to a company executive.

Watch out scientists -- you may be replaced by a robot. Two teams of researchers said on Thursday they had created machines that could reason, formulate theories and discover scientific knowledge on their own, marking a major advance in the field of artificial intelligence.

IBM cut its offering price for Sun Microsystems Inc to $9 to $10 per share, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Stocks jumped on Thursday as changes in bank accounting rules boosted optimism the financial system may stabilize in the short term, while world leaders agreed on measures to fight the recession.

Shares of Dow Chemical Co. jumped Thursday, the day after the company closed on its $16.5 billion buyout of Rohm & Haas and immediately sold Rohm's Morton Salt division to cut its debt load.

Israel’s new Prime Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has been questioned over corruption allegations for at least seven hours by police on Thursday.

World leaders on Thursday clinched a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and tightened the rules to stop it happening again.

After UBS analyst Heather Bellini repeated her Buy rating on the shares and lifted her target price and EPS estimates, Adobe shares jumped 35 percent since its March 4 guidance reset, and is up 7.6 percent today.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to a 26-1/2-year high last week, data showed on Thursday, indicating that layoffs have yet to peak even as other reports signaled some improvement in the economy.

Amazon was cuts on valuation basis Thursday to Equal Weight from Overweight as Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuth said the outlook remains negative.

General Electric Co and Intel Corp have joined forces to develop devices to help doctors monitor patients' health remotely, an area they believe could become a multibillion-dollar business.

Oil rose more than 7 percent to $52 a barrel on Thursday, in line with a broad rally in global markets on hopes actions agreed at the G20 summit in London would restore global growth.

The prospect of a new iPhone launching this year could spark new interest in the firm’s venerable gadget.

On Thursday, 130 countries joined astronomers around the world for a 100-hour stargazing marathon. With more than 1,500 events, the mass event could potentially draw more than a million people, busting all records for participation in astronomy.

Bank of America Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said it may take several quarters for the bank to repay its $45 billion of federal bailout money, although he believes the U.S. economy may bottom out in the second half of this year.

U.S. stocks jumped 4 percent on Thursday after world leaders agreed to pump an additional trillion dollars into the economy to fight the financial crisis and on rule changes aimed at giving banks flexibility when dealing with toxic assets.

Online video games maker Changyou.com Ltd soared in its trading debut on Thursday, with shares up nearly 36 percent, putting it on pace for the most successful stock launch in nearly a year.

Leaders of the G20 nations agreed to pump an additional trillion dollars to fight the economic crisis on Thursday, in an effort to shorten the recession and save jobs.

Costco Wholesale Corp said it plans to close its two Costco Home stores on July 3, citing the current economic slowdown and resulting weakness in the home furnishings business.

Mexican police have captured a leading drug baron from the border city of Ciudad Juarez, the country's most violent town in a turf war that killed 6,300 people last year.

Stocks surged more than 4 percent on Thursday as world leaders agreed to a trillion-dollar deal to fight the economic downturn and banks were allowed more flexibility to value toxic assets that have clogged up the financial system.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress on Thursday moved toward passing a federal budget that embraces President Barack Obama's initiatives on healthcare, energy and education but leaves the government deeply in debt for the foreseeable future.

World leaders agreed a trillion-dollar deal on Thursday to combat the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Maurice Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group Inc and creator of the doomed unit whose investments triggered its downfall, came under fire from U.S. lawmakers on Thursday who questioned his claims of ignorance.

New orders received by U.S. factories rose in February, government data showed on Thursday, breaking a six-month streak of declines and bolstering hopes the economy may be beginning to crawl out of the depths of a recession.

Despite stimulus funds assigned for clean energy around the world, global new investment in clean energy plunged more than 53 percent in the first quarter of 2009, research group New Energy Finance said on Thursday.

Malicious software that has infected millions of computers across the globe failed to wreak havoc on Wednesday as some feared, but researchers warned the powerful Conficker worm could still strike.

(Corrects researcher's last name in penultimate paragraph)

New orders received by U.S. factories rose in February, government data showed on Thursday, breaking a six-month streak of declines and bolstering hopes the economy may be beginning to crawl out of the depths of a recession.