BUSINESS

Russia isn't the first place that comes to mind when thinking of free speech, but that's exactly where the second World Media Summit was held. Attendees including BBC and CNN heard about a free press from Vladimir Putin, and about world harmony from the North Koreans.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the No. 1 search engine, could pay $22.5 million to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaints it infringed privacy of millions of customers of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the Wall Street Journal reported.

China's double-digit growth rate during the financial crisis has been the envy of the world and most people agree that we may have seen the last of the country's miraculous growth. So yes, China's growth is slowing. However, it's too early to get all pessimistic.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York may have known as early as August 2007 that the setting of global benchmark interest rates was flawed. Following an inquiry with British banking group Barclays Plc (NYSE: BSC) in the spring of 2008, it shared proposals for reform of the system with British authorities.

Ex-Barclays boss Bob Diamond, who will still receive his salary and benefits worth in excess of £2 million, had given up the bonus payment voluntarily according to Barclays executive chairman Marcus Agius.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) cut its car sales growth projection for the financial year 2013 to 9-11 percent from the 10-12 percent growth as expected earlier, amid concerns of escalating cost and sluggish demand for cars in the domestic market.

ASML Holding, Tata Motors, Arcelormittal, Molycorp, CVS Caremark Corp, Advanced Micro Devices, France Telecom and Senior Housing Properties Trust are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Tuesday.

The State Bank of India (SBI), the prime lender to the debt-stricken Indian private air carrier Kingfisher Airlines, said Tuesday that a full recovery of its loans might not happen immediately. The ailing airliner owes $1.4 billion in loans to 17 plus lenders, who have asked the company to infuse fresh capital.

Did the world's largest software company remove the home page of an Australian online retailer from the results of its internet search engines in retaliation for the company's cheeky campaign to get people to use a better browser? Microsoft says no.

General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP), the second-largest public U.S. mall landlord, is living up to its name once again. After exiting bankruptcy in 2010, the Chicago-based company's shares hit a new all-time high of $18.49 on Friday.

The Beatles and Rolling Stones were inadvertently stepping into a vacuum ? the biggest rock star in the world, Elvis Presley, was inducted into the army in 1962.

Even as Apple's Siri was touted as the most able competitor to Google Search, the search giant launched Google Now at the recently-held I/O Conference which seems to have taken over its competitor very quietly but firmly.

Worldwide spending on information technology is on track to surpass $3.6 trillion in 2012, a 3 percent increase from 2011 spending of $3.5 trillion, instead of a previously forecast 2.5 percent gain, according to research firm Gartner's revised 2012 IT spending outlook.

Asian stock markets ended lower Tuesday as a weak Chinese trade data stoked fears of a growth slowdown in the world?s second largest economy.

U.S. stock index futures point to a lower opening Tuesday, as weak global economic conditions and debt burden in the euro zone continued to drag down the investor sentiment.

Amid the mixed global cues, Indian markets opened on a positive note Tuesday morning.

Most European markets marginally rose Tuesday as investors remained in a watchful mode amid concerns that the economic condition in the euro zone is worsening.

Crude oil futures declined Tuesday as the offshore oil and gas workers strike in Norway ended overnight after the government's intervention.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Monday were Cellcom Israel, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Yingli Green Energy Holding, Sunrise Senior Living and Zale Corp. The top after-market NYSE losers were Advanced Micro Devices, Beazer Homes USA, Douglas Emmett, Quantum Corp and Senior Housing Properties Trust.

China's trade surplus widened to $31.73 billion in June, up 42.9 percent compared to the same month in last year amid slower-than-expected growth in imports, raising concern that the world's second largest economy isn't doing enough to stimulate domestic demand and avert a slowdown.

Most Asian markets fell Tuesday amid investor concerns about the intensifying debt crisis looming over the euro zone and the worsening global economic downturn.

More than $200 million in customer funds appears to be missing from the accounts of futures broker PFGBest, regulators said Monday just hours after the firm's founder attempted suicide outside the company's Iowa headquarters.

Asian shares crawled higher on Tuesday after sharp losses the day before but gains were limited as investors, worried about a global economic deceleration, waited for Chinese trade data due later in the day that could set the tone for risk appetite.

Facebook, which is expected to claim one-seventh of humanity in its grasp next month, is trying to give LinkedIn a run for its money with a proposed entry into the job-recruiting market.

Many small businesses have been paying nearly twice the amount for half the health care benefits that they are entitled to provide their employees. However, under the new health care mandate, health insurance will be more affordable for small companies.

Alcoa (NYSE: AA) posted a second-quarter loss as a slump in aluminum prices to near two-year lows offset, growing demand in the aerospace and automobile markets.

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), the No. 1 chipmaker, said it would commit as much as $1 billion to acquire a preliminary stake of 10 percent in Dutch semiconductor maker ASML Holding (Nasdaq: ASML).

Airbus and Boeing are ramping up their global supply chain efficiency to meet a huge number of orders.

LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), the leading professional social networking site, lost as much as 6 percent of its value Monday on a report that Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site will start direct competition.