BUSINESS

The UK government may have made illegal promises to General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) to shift production of the Astra compact car to its Opel/Astra plant in England from locations in Germany, reports said.

iPhone 5 rumors are heating up if Apple hopes to release the smartphone between June and October. The latest report comes from 9 to 5 Mac, which says it has independently heard that Apple is testing multiple versions of its sixth-generation iPhone, but the displays are not only bigger, but sharper, too.

India reportedly has about 40 million guns in circulation (a modest number compared to its 1 billion-plus population), and only the United States has more.

Formula 1, the popular global auto racing sport, is on its way to a possible IPO as financial investors such as Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. (NYSE: WDR), Norges Bank Investment Management and BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) bought 21 percent of the company, CVC Capital Partners, owner of Formula 1, confirmed Tuesday.

U.S. sales of previously owned homes rose 3.4 percent in April, reversing three months of declines and suggesting a stabilization of the housing market, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

Days after France attempted to ban a genetically-modified strain of maize created by the controversial agricultural company Monsanto, based in St. Louis, Mo., the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) rejected France's grounds for banning the maize, even though France believes the corn is harmful to the environment.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reported a 26 percent drop in its fiscal first-quarter profit due largely to higher restructuring costs compared to last year, but the earnings topped Wall Street's expectations.

The search for Mickey Shunick, a missing 21-year-old woman from Lafayette, La., is intensifying, with television personality and victims' rights advocate Nancy Grace putting a spotlight on the case.

As U.S. entertainment companies look for new opportunities in light of a stagnant home market, new partnerships with China are emerging, but the process of linking media worlds between the two countries is also a two-way street.

U.S. home resales rose in April to their highest annual rate in nearly two years and a falloff in foreclosures pushed prices higher, hopeful signs for the country's economic recovery.

Casey Anthony has been found hiding out in Florida 10 months after she dropped out of the spotlight at the conclusion of her blockbuster trial, during which she was acquitted of murder charges in connection with the death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee.

A New Jersey judge was lenient in sentencing Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student found guilty of invasion of privacy of his roommate Tyler Clementi in a case that led to Tyler jumping off the George Washington Bridge, by giving Ravi 30 days in prison. But Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman was incensed at the lack of an apology from Ravi for his actions.

French hotel giant Accor SA (Paris: AC) said Tuesday it will sell the underperforming Motel 6 U.S. budget hotel chain to asset manager Blackstone Group LP for $1.9 billion, as part of an effort to cut debt and shift focus from the U.S. to fast-growing emerging markets.

Blaming the Euro Zone crisis for a weak Indian economy Indian Finance3 Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that government is taking several steps to protect the economy and rupee from further pressures.

Fitch cut Japan's sovereign credit status on Tuesday to the lowest level among global ratings agencies as a political stalemate dims the chance that the country can curb its snowballing debt.

Yousuf Raza Gilani and Recep Tayyip Erdogan also vowed to significantly increase the volume of trade between Turkey and Pakistan.

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, kept falling Tuesday, three business days after its $16,7 billion initial public offering.

The final cost of the new replacement submarines is expected to amount to at least £20-billion ($31.5-billion).

The United States and Japan are leading a fragile economic recovery among developed countries that could yet be blown off course if the euro zone fails to contain the damage from its problem debtor states, the OECD said on Tuesday.

Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex fell Tuesday by more than 145 points, or 1 percent, as the rupee tumbled to a record low of 55.39 against the dollar.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading on Tuesday are: STMicroelectronics, Ceragon Networks, Trina Solar, Vodafone Group, Mellanox Technologies, Nokia Corp, Cellcom Israel and AstraZeneca plc.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to a slightly lower opening Tuesday ahead of existing home sales data that are expected to show a rise in April sales.

The total amount of annual pay package Cook received from Apple in 2011 was $378.98 million. However, Cook's base salary was $900,000, along with $900,000 more for his annual incentives, which add up to $1.80 million only. So where does the cash pile of $378.98 million come from? Read on to know more...

Portuguese investment bank Espirito Santo has downgraded Indian bio-technology major Biocon from neutral to sell based on several issues, including accounting practices which the bank says are objectionable.

Asian markets rose Tuesday as China promised to spur growth and France and Germany agreed to prevent Greece from exiting the euro zone.

Asian stock markets advanced for the second day Tuesday as China's commitment to stimulate growth in the world's second largest economy and signs of cooperation between German and French leaders buoyed sentiment.

A leading economic indicator for China rose at a steady speed in April compared to the previous month indicating that the country?s economy may not have the hard landing as expected earlier.

Japan's Nikkei share average rose in early trading Tuesday, continuing Monday's technical correction as investors picked up bargains after last week's flurry of aggressive selling, triggered by concern over a deepening euro crisis.

After its successful IPO on Friday, Facebook was looking forward to its second day of trading, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg won't be too pleased to learn that his company took a big tumble on the stock exchange on Monday. Facebook shares (listed as FB on the Nasdaq) fell from $38.27 to $34.03 apiece, a drop-off of about 11 percent.