BUSINESS

Banco Santander's announcement that it would be spinning off nearly one quarter of its Mexican unit in an initial public offering later this month was greeted by the markets as a seemingly win-win-win proposition. But the move by the large Spanish bank only highlights the increased dependence Iberian banks have had on their overseas branches over the past few years and how, in an effort to now package off those units and sell them, they could be killing the hen that's been laying the golde...

Our predictions this morning came true: At about 9 a.m. PST, Apple released the official invitations for its next big product launch to the press, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 12. The event will definitely be all about the iPhone 5, but that's not the only Apple product scheduled to be unveiled that day. Apple has plans to release new iOS devices and Mac computers at the event.

The two assassins had approached the Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco on motorcycles as she exited a butcher shop in Medellin, where they delivered two fatal bullets into her skull and left the 69-year-old's body lying in the street.

Indians actually share the values promulgated by the Republican Party rather than the Democrats whom they usually vote for.

Ailing Finnish smartphone maker Nokia Oyj (NYSE: NOK) is betting the company that two new Lumia smartphones based on the new Windows 8 OS from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the world's biggest software company, will be international hits.

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (Mumbai: ONGC), India's largest state-controlled energy driller, could lose its bid for $5 billion in Canadian assets controlled by energy giant ConocoPhillips Co. (NYSE: COP), due to its investments in Iran, which is facing U.S. sanctions.

It's been long reported that Apple's next big product event, which is said to unveil the new iPhone 5, a new "iPad Mini," and even new iPod and Mac models, will allegedly occur on Wednesday, Sept. 12. If company history repeats itself, it's possible that Apple will release the press invitations eight days prior to the event's date, either today (Tuesday) or Wednesday.

Consider this a case of Hermès versus Louis Vuitton that doesn't involve trying to figure out which $3,000 designer handbag to buy.

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, went into a freefall Tuesday, plunging about 2.5 percent to keep setting new lows. After falling as low as $17.58 in late morning, they recovered slightly to $17.63, down 43 cents, after the first two hours of trading.

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), the US-based fast-food restaurant chain headquartered in Illinois long known for its beef-based burgers of all shapes and sizes announced plans on Tuesday to open its first ever vegetarian-exclusive restaurants in India.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Valve, the software developer behind the critically-acclaimed Half-Life series, the Steam network for distributing games and the Source engine, is reportedly interested in building hardware. Valve, which was founded by two former Microsoft employees in Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, added a job posting to its site on Tuesday morning for an industrial designer.

During the holiday week, economy-watchers are likely to focus on Friday's August nonfarm payrolls report and the European Central Bank’s governing council meeting, on Sept. 6.

This means that Tokyo’s population in 2100 will match the numbers from 1940.

Global automakers report August U.S. car sales, Tuesday. Follow the blog for the latest updates from Chrysler, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), General Motors Company (NYSE: GM), Nissan Motor Co. (Tokyo: 7201), Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC), Volkswagen AG (Frankfurt: VOW) and Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM).

The world’s most populous country will become its biggest smartphone market by year-end, market researcher IDC estimates. It may account for 26.5 percent of all shipments compared with only 17.8 percent for the U.S.

Demonoid could be making a comeback, but after the founder of the Pirate Bay was arrested, the BitTorrent site might not be as inclined to return.

The head of the European Central Bank is signaling that the ECB may be ready to offer short-term loans to the monetary union's most at-risk members like Spain and Italy.

Griselda Blanco, a former drug lord for the Medellín Cartel and a pioneer in the Miami-based cocaine drug trade, was gunned down in Columbia by an assassin on Monday.

Cambodia has decided to deport popular BitTorrent site Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, who was arrested Aug.30, for violation of copyright laws and enabling illegal downloading of music and films.

Organic foods are as good as conventionally grown foods except for the lower level of pesticides in food items. However, pesticide levels in conventional foods are within permissible limits, according to a new study conducted by the Stanford University.

StemCells Inc, Tower Semiconductor Ltd, Nokia Corp, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Telefonica, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Banco Santander, Coca-Cola Co, Harmony Gold Mining Co and ARM Holdings plc are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Tuesday.

The Democrats have gathered in thousands at the downtown football stadium at Charlotte, N.C., for the three-day Democratic National Convention starting Tuesday. The Party unveiled its formal 2012 election policy, ahead of the convention Monday night, advocating the strengths of their presidential candidate incumbent Barack Obama over Republican rival Mitt Romney.

IT sector funds were the top performers in August among Indian mutual funds that focus on domestic stocks as lower valuations of the sector's shares after their sharp declines in July revived investor interest.

Asian stock markets ended lower Tuesday as investors remained watchful ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting and U.S. non-farm payrolls data later this week.

The cabin crew of Lufthansa (LHA) airlines is staging a strike at three German airports Tuesday in their second walkout in a 13-month wage dispute that has resulted in the cancellation of 208 flights in Frankfurt.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Tuesday as market sentiment was underpinned by expectations that policymakers around the world will announce stimulus measures to rejuvenate the economic growth momentum.

Most of the European markets fell Tuesday as investors continued to remain cautious waiting for the policymakers to announce stimulus measures to boost the euro zone economy and revive the growth momentum.

Shaji Farooq, Infosys's financial services head in the U.S. has resigned and has joined rival business group Wipro.

Gold edged higher on Tuesday to the highest level in more than five months as lacklustre manufacturing data from around the globe fanned speculation of imminent easing measures from central banks.