BUSINESS

The first criminal charges stemming from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster have led to the arrest of a former BP engineer for obstruction of justice.

A former BP Plc engineer was arrested and charged on Tuesday with trying to destroy evidence related to how much oil was spilling from the company's broken well in the Gulf of Mexico in April of 2010, the U.S. Justice Department said.

The fuel sector probe -- which will be discussed in a live televised parliamentary session -- uncovered a litany of abuses, including allegations that fifteen oil importers collected more than $300 million without delivering a single drop of oil.

A former BP Engineer is the first to be charged in the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. Kurt Mix, of Katy, TX, has been arrested and accused of deleting text messages detailing how much oil was gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Philippines wants to develop a natural gas field in a disputed area of the South China Sea that is also claimed by China.

A high-profile protest by Chinese villagers against the alleged corruption of local officials has produced a result: Two former village officials from Wukan, near Hong Kong, have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and ordered to return stolen funds.

The futures regulator has the power to go after top executives who aid and abet violations by their companies, said Jill Sommers, who is heading up the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's probe into bankrupt brokerage MF Global.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said in court on Tuesday that he could not recall being told in 2005 that the company needed a license from Sun Microsystems to use the Java programming language.

The housing market is seeing hints of stabilization, with February home prices rising for the first time in 10 months, according to a survey on Tuesday, while a measure of consumer confidence last month fell more than expected.

Apple is ready to announce its second quarter results today, April 24, 2012, at approximately 5 p.m. ET. Bolstered mostly by the release of the company's third-generation iPad, Apple is expected to announce a great quarter, although not quite as record-breaking as its last one.

Single-family home prices rose for the first time in 10 months, in an encouraging sign the battered sector is starting to stabilize, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday.

The housing market is seeing hints of stabilization even as it struggles to gain traction, data showed on Tuesday, as home prices rose for the first time in 10 months in February while sales dropped in March.

New single-family home sales dropped in March to their lowest level in four months, but the reading still beat analysts' expectations as the government said sales in prior months were higher than initially thought.

Fitch Ratings upgraded Ford Motor Co to investment grade on Tuesday, marking a key step that brings the second-largest U.S. automaker closer to reclaiming its Blue Oval trademark.

Wall Street was set to struggle at the open on Tuesday after sharp losses in the previous session and on continued concerns about Europe's debt crisis.

Stock index futures crept higher on Tuesday after sharp losses in the previous session but continued concerns about Europe's debt crisis could mean gains are short lived.

Stock index futures crept higher on Tuesday after sharp losses in the previous session but continued concerns about Europe's debt crisis could mean gains will be slight.

Hershey Co posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by price increases, and raised its full-year outlook, sending the candy maker's shares up more than 3 percent.

Hong Kong's anti-graft agency is looking into payments totaling more than U.S. $2.5 million to a former top public servant as part of the city's corruption investigation involving two billionaire brothers who run Asia's largest property developer.

JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday named Jeff Urwin as its new chief executive Asia Pacific, taking over from Gaby Abdelnour who announced in March that he will be leaving the firm.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.37 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.35 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.48 percent at 4:35 a.m. EDT.

The Bank of Japan is likely to ease monetary policy on Friday by boosting asset purchases by up to 10 trillion yen ($123 billion) and in doing so may extend the maturity of government bonds it targets to around three years, according to sources familiar with the central bank's thinking.

Google's former chief executive, Eric Schmidt, is slated to testify on Tuesday as Oracle's final witness in the first part of a high stakes trial over smartphone technology, attorneys said in court.

European share markets and the single currency staged modest recoveries on Tuesday, after steep losses caused by the worsening performance of the euro zone economy and a sharp rise in concern over the political will to fix its fiscal problems.

Google Inc executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt and filmmaker James Cameron are among those bankrolling a venture to survey and eventually extract precious metals and rare minerals from asteroids that orbit near Earth, the company said on Tuesday.

The Auto China 2012 event held in the Beijing capital Monday rolled out an extraordinary line-up of new vehicles from across the world, with global automakers brandishing an impressive combination of luxury and sports in their respective car segments.Among the hoard of exhibits, 120 new models, 74 concept vehicles and 88 new-energy vehicles made their way to the auto show battleground. A total of 1,125 automobiles, including vehicles from Volkswagen, Audi, Nissan, Bentley, Bugatti, SEAT, Sko...

A new biotech corn developed by Dow AgroSciences could answer the prayers of U.S. farmers plagued by a fierce epidemic of super-weeds. Or it could trigger a flood of dangerous chemicals that may make weeds even more resistant and damage other important U.S. crops.

Asian shares fell and the euro was under pressure on Tuesday as political uncertainty and slumping business in Europe raised fears the euro zone could struggle to push through austerity measures and may stay in recession longer.

Asian shares inched up on Tuesday but gains were limited as political uncertainty and disappointing data in Europe raised fears the euro zone could struggle to push through austerity measures and may stay in recession until late in the year.