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The one billion monthly user club is an exclusive one. First it was Facebook who hit the milestone last year, and now the club officially has a new member: YouTube. The user-generated video serviced announced the milestone in a blogpost on Wednesday. "In the last eight years you’ve come to YouTube to watch, share and fall in love with videos from all over the world. Tens of thousands of partners have created channels that have found and built businesses for passionate, engaged audiences. Advertisers have taken notice: all of the Ad Age Top 100 brands are now running campaigns on YouTube. And today, we’re announcing a new milestone: YouTube now has more than a billion unique users every single month," YouTube wrote. To put the number in perspective, YouTube also released some impressive stats. For example, this number means that 50% of the entire Internet population is visitng YouTube every month. It is equal to around 10 Super Bowl audience put together. In fact, if YouTub

Growth in China's vast manufacturing sector picked up in March after a holiday dip, a preliminary survey of factory managers showed on Thursday, pointing towards solid but not spectacular first-quarter growth in the world's second-largest economy. The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for March revived to 51.7 in March from 50.4 in February, but remained below a two-year high of 52.3 reached at the beginning of the year. The pullback in February had raised concerns in financial markets that China's recovery was losing steam. Indeed, official data earlier in March suggested the economy had started 2013 with only tepid growth after a burst in the fourth quarter. Economists' opinions were mixed on how much recovery momentum would be carried into the second quarter, with some pointing to weak commodity demand while others took comfort in the stronger March showing. "Current readings around the 50 points level seem to us to be consistent with GDP growth close to 8 pe

FedEx's Moon-based Ground unit is pulling the rest of the company out of the drink. But even with Ground's revenue up by $270 million, or 11 percent from the third quarter of last year, there is only so much that portion of the business can do for the rest. FedEx's third quarter revenues, reported Wednesday, were down so severely that even the Wall Street analysts who watch the Memphis, Tenn.-based company for a living didn't foresee the decline. The company reported earnings of $1.13 per share, or 32 percent below last year's third quarter earnings of $1.65. Excluding one-time items, earnings came in a $1.23 per share. A Thompson-Reuters poll of analysts had expected, on average, earnings per share of $1.38, with the lowest prediction at $1.30. Net income in the third quarter was $361 million, down by 31 percent from $521 million in the same quarter last year, even as total revenues rose by 4 percent from $10.56 billion to $10.95 billion. In other words, the compa

Lufthansa has had to cancel almost 700 flights as workers went on strike early on Thursday to put pressure on the German airline ahead of a new round of wage talks on Friday. The strike, announced by labour union Verdi on Wednesday, is expected to last until 1000 am local time (0900 GMT) but will wipe out domestic and European flights by Lufthansa into the afternoon. "We see this strike as disproportionate at this time. Talks are scheduled for tomorrow, and the exchange of demands has only just started," a spokesman for Lufthansa said. A list posted on the airline's website on Wednesday afternoon showed a total of 688 cancelled flights, mostly to German and European destinations. Lufthansa said it aimed to get most intercontinental flights off the ground despite the strike. In negotiations that started last month, German union Verdi is demanding a 5.2 percent increase in wages for 12 months for 33,000 employees at Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Systems, ca

Some of the nation’s largest banks continue to offer payday loans, pitched as advances on direct-deposit paychecks, despite growing regulatory scrutiny and mounting criticism about the short-term, high-cost loans. The findings, outlined in a report by the Center for Responsible Lending to be released on Thursday, provide the latest glimpse into the methods that banks are aggressively using to earn new revenue. According to bank analysts, banks are looking to recoup the billions in lost income from a spate of regulations restricting fees on debit and credit cards. Across the nation, roughly six banks, including Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank, make the loans. The loans can prove expensive, the report shows, typically costing $10 for every $100 borrowed. They are often used by low-income customers, said the center, a nonprofit group that studies consumer lending issues. At first glance, the loans do not seem like a typical payday loan offered by storefront lenders. Instead, banks typically al

Jodi Arias’ defense attorney worked Wednesday to undo any damage to the credibility of an expert witness who diagnosed the defendant with post-traumatic stress disorder and amnesia after a withering cross-examination that called into question his techniques and testing procedures. Psychologist Richard Samuels resumed testimony for a fourth day Wednesday after telling jurors he diagnosed Arias with PTSD and dissociative amnesia, which explains why she can’t remember much from the day she killed her lover. Samuels said he met with Arias a dozen times for more than 30 hours over three years while she was jailed. Prosecutor Juan Martinez previously seized on multiple lies Arias told Samuels throughout the process of his evaluation, at one point getting the psychologist to acknowledge that he should have re-administered at least one test he used to come to his PTSD diagnosis. Martinez questioned how Samuels could have come to any definitive conclusion for a diagnosis based upon Arias’ li

U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 people during a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, will face a court martial trial at the base, a military judge ruled on Wednesday, rejecting his request to change the venue. Judge Tara Osborn, a U.S. Army colonel, last month set July 1 for the start of the court martial for Hasan, who has been in custody since the shooting rampage that also wounded 32 people. Hasan could face the death penalty if convicted. Selection of a jury, or panel in military law terminology, is scheduled to begin in May. Osborn also rejected Hasan's request to select jurors from the Navy or Air Force instead of the Army. Osborn has been trying to get the trial schedule on track after extensive delays while the military justice system debated whether Hasan, who is Muslim, should be required to shave his beard to comply with military rules. Osborn has put that issue aside. Several procedural issues were also discussed at the hearing on Wednesday f