MEXICO

Banco Santander said it was to pay $2.5 billion for the 24.9 percent of Santander Mexico it does not own, showing the Spanish bank's expansion ambitions have not been dampened by a raft of buys in the past 18 months.

General Motors Co on Tuesday announced a recall of about 1.5 million trucks, crossovers and cars from model years 2006-2009 because the unit that heats the windshield washer fluid could catch fire.

Employers in most economies are more likely to add workers than three months ago, including those in the United States, but big gains are limited to booming emerging economies like Brazil, India and China, according to a quarterly survey by Manpower Inc .

Here are developments in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest in U.S. history:

President Barack Obama will meet with the leaders of a panel he created to probe the worst oil spill in U.S. history on Tuesday, as a giant slick from BP's blown-out Gulf of Mexico well poses a new threat to the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama.

Oil from BP's out-of-control Gulf of Mexico oil spill could threaten the Mississippi and Alabama coasts this week, U.S. forecasters said on Monday, as public anger surged over the country's worst environmental disaster.

Apple Inc said it sold 2 million iPads since launching the touch-screen tablet in the United States nearly two months ago and taking it to nine international markets this past weekend.

Brazil's Ultrapar is set to submit an offer for Royal Dutch Shell's European liquefied petroleum gas arm alongside a string of private equity bidders, the Financial Times reported.

Gold has exploded recently, making new highs against every major currency in the world.

Josephine Jimenez has a chunk of money to invest and she is hunting for opportunities in the usual places -- Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, among others. Jimenez is a specialist in so-called frontier markets. She stacked up a million air miles long ago.

The frequency of strikes in metals and mining companies in Latin America are not likely to lead to rating downgrades in the region in 2010, according to Fitch Ratings.. The companies that have tapped the debt capital markets, namely in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru, tend to have diversified operations, enabling them to effectively weather strike action.

Adalberto Lopez' family-run musical instrument shop in the bustling Arizona border city of Nogales sells guitars and accordions to foot-stomping banda musicians and mariachis who cross up from Mexico to shop.

Mexican auto supplier Metalsa SA de CV said on Tuesday it is not engaged in talks with Tata Motors Ltd about making Tata vehicles in Mexico.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc's quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations, as a curb on costs helped the world's largest retailer overcome weaker U.S. same-store sales, sending shares up 3 percent.

My father's voice came through the phone as if he were next door, not 4,000 miles away. Are you fluent yet? he asked.

Global woes and the uncertainty over the future have forced investors to go for bullion and the prospects for silver is extremely good in the coming years, said metal consultants CPM Group.

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Nothing makes us happier than our families and loved ones, a new study shows, with face-to-face socializing beating reaching out to people online hands down.

The U.S. Federal Reserve reopened currency swap facilities with other major central banks on Sunday to help ease market strains in Europe.

Apple Inc said on Friday it will launch the iPad tablet computer in nine international markets on May 28, following a strong debut in the United States last month.

Yamana Gold's first-quarter revenue jumped 62 percent on higher gold prices and rising production, the company said on Monday, but its profit eased due to a huge foreign exchange gain in the year-before period.

BP Plc struggled to stop oil gushing unchecked from a ruptured undersea well in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and calmer weather raised hopes of reducing the massive oil slick and limiting its impact on the U.S. shoreline.