IBT Staff Reporter

Software giant Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) brokered a contract to host its advertisements on the popular Web 2.0 website Digg.com, ousting the former advertising partner Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

The Senate Finance Committee voted 20-1 on Thursday to give the U.S. government new tools to press China to raise the value of its currency, but the Bush administration said it opposed the bill.

Gap Inc. on Thursday named Glenn Murphy as its new chief executive and chairman, giving a respected former Canadian drug chain chief with no significant fashion industry experience the mandate to turn around the world's largest apparel retailer.

A patient who became ill following two experimental gene therapy injections for arthritis has died and U.S. health regulators are investigating the cause, officials said on Thursday.

Google Inc. has made its biggest move yet on the U.S. mobile Web market by signing a deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. that positions the Internet company to build services to run on Sprint's planned WiMAX high-speed wireless network.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday he considered France's Dominique Strauss-Kahn a good candidate to take over the International Monetary Fund and urged continued reform at the lender.

Fourteen major shipping lines reached a tentative contract deal on Thursday with clerical workers for cargo terminals at Los Angeles and Long Beach, averting a threatened strike at the two busiest U.S. seaports.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will ask outside advisers if GlaxoSmithKline Plc's diabetes drug Avandia should be taken off the market or remain on sale with new warnings or limits, a summary released on Thursday said.

Sales of new U.S. homes dropped more than expected in June, while orders for long-lasting U.S.-made goods were weaker than analysts forecast, according to reports on Thursday that raised fresh concerns about the economy.

Global wind power capacity rose by nearly 26 percent last year, generating electricity equivalent to nearly 33 million passenger cars, Worldwatch Institute reported.

The bottom fell out from the U.S. stock market on Thursday with major indexes down about 2 percent on worries about the housing market and corporate credit.

Nepal faces security problems and food shortages in the critical period before elections in November aimed at sealing peace after a decade-long Maoist rebellion, U.N. officials said on Thursday.

Stocks plummeted on Thursday, with the Dow industrials tumbling more than 300 points, on signs of further weakness in the housing market and deteriorating conditions for corporate buyouts. The S&P shed about $300 billion in market value in the worst single session since the February 27 global market sell-off.

Dell Inc will soon offer more personal computers that use the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Corp's Windows, said the founder of a company that offers Linux support services.

Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it has acquired AdECN, a self-described stock market for buyers and sellers of Web advertising, marking Microsoft's latest push into a sector led by rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

Chrysler Group said on Thursday it would begin offering a lifetime powertrain warranty on almost all of its new vehicles to increase sales and address a longtime concern of dealers.

U.S. telecoms and Internet search leader Google are in an all-out air battle to shape the future of wireless communications on a soon to be available piece of airwaves real estate once television departs to go digital in 2009.

Oil fell more than $1 on Thursday, erasing an earlier rally as a drop in U.S. stock markets raised concerns about demand growth in the world's top consumer.

A dentist who specializes in smile improvements has sued utility Consolidated Edison for $25 million for not being able to use his office since last week's steam pipe explosion in Manhattan.

Moscow has delayed the start-up of Iran's first nuclear power station to 2008 because Tehran has fallen behind with payments for the Bushehr plant, a top Russian official said on Thursday.

The science-fiction classic film Blade Runner will get a new Final Cut treatment by Director Ridley Scott for a short theatrical run and DVD release later this year.

Apple Inc.'s shares rose more than 8 percent on Thursday after stronger-than-expected quarterly profits prompted a number of analysts to raise their price targets on the stock.

Democrat John Edwards said on Thursday if elected president he will try to rewrite the U.S. tax code, repealing tax breaks for wealthier Americans and funneling some of the money to low-income families.

Working for long periods in the harsh and unforgiving conditions near the North and South Poles often causes people to suffer a stew of psychological symptoms dubbed 'polar madness,' scientists said on Wednesday.

Prague, Copenhagen and Dublin are the top cities for finding a new job, a survey showed on Thursday.

Agricultural scientists unveiled a cheap kit on Thursday to let African farmers test crops for a deadly poison that makes them unfit to eat and costs the continent millions of dollars in lost exports.

Microsoft Corp. will drop the retail price of its add-on HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 game console to $179 and include five free HD-DVD movies for a limited time, the company said Thursday.

Investors gave Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) a nod of approval on Friday, sending shares higher after the company said late Thursday that it will hire a food and drug veteran as its new Chief Executive Officer, ending a seven month search.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc expects to drill in the Arctic off the north coast of Alaska this year, despite legal challenges from environmentalists and native groups, its chief executive said on Thursday.