UNITED STATES

AOL Inc reported a surprise second-quarter loss on Tuesday, citing weaker-than-expected advertising growth that sent shares of the company plummeting as much as 20 percent on Tuesday.

The Consumer Reports Index, which tracks the financial optimism of Americans, plunged more than five points to 43.4 this month, the lowest in two years.

Standard & Poor's is more concerned that a slower economy, sovereign debt issues and mortgage risks will depress U.S. bank industry profits and credit quality, the ratings agency said on Tuesday.

Stocks rebounded sharply on Tuesday after a major sell-off, but markets remained vulnerable to selling if the Federal Reserve fails to ease fears of a double-dip recession.

Worries of more government intervention in European and U.S. debt crises lifted gold early on Tuesday to a record near $1,800, but bullion pared gains as the battered stock market bounced higher.

The Tribune Co., one of the largest newspaper publishers in the U.S., is working on a tablet computer of its own to offer its subscribers, CNN reported, citing interviews with more than half a dozen current and former Tribune employees.

OPEC, source of more than a third of the world's oil, cut its forecast for global oil demand growth this year as a worsening economic outlook curbs consumption in developed economies.

Syrian forces killed at least 30 people and moved into a town near the Turkish border on Tuesday, an activist group said, even as Turkey's foreign minister pressed President Bashar al-Assad to halt assaults on protests against his rule.

Gold hit a record high on Tuesday in its biggest three-day rally since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008, as investor fears over the threat to the global economy from the European and U.S. debt crises hit assets seen as higher risk.

Stocks climbed on Tuesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for only its second advance in the past 12 sessions, but markets remained susceptible to selling if the Federal Reserve fails to ease fears of a double-dip recession.

Despite the S&P downgrade of the United States, Russia announced that it has no plans to make an immediate change to its U.S. dollar-denominated gold or foreign exchange reserves, a senior Russian bank official has confirmed.

U.S. firm, AgriSol Energy LLC, and its joint venture partner in Tanzania will invest more than $100 million over the next 10 years to develop a large-scale commercial farming project in the east African country, a company director said on Tuesday.

Sudan has granted its main ally and oil buyer China more oil exploration rights as both countries seek to boost ties, Sudan's foreign minister said.

Newsweek ran a wild-eyed cover photo of Michele Bachmann that's coming under fire from conservatives. Was the cover image a cheap shot? One writer thinks so.

Oil and natural gas companies, whether integrated or independent, whether upstream or downstream, posted gains as investors picked up heavily discounted stocks.

The U.S. stock market soared ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement after a brutal session on Monday.

Russia has secured Nokia's backing of its GLONASS satellite navigation system, a major step forward for the country's technology toward securing the number two global position after GPS.

The Senate Banking Committee has begun looking into last week's decision by Standard & Poor's to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, a committee aide has confirmed.

James P. Zumwalt became the first American representative to attend the memorial service on the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945.

The fact is, as the current disturbances clearly demonstrate, that Britain is a hard, grim and rough nation that has long been scarred by social inequalities, violence, drug abuse, gang warfare, racial tension, the collapse of manufacturing and, now, an economic crisis that threatens to tear the country asunder.

World stocks recovered after their 10th straight day of declines on Tuesday as Wall Street managed to put a brake on losses for the time being, with investors turning their attention to a meeting of the Federal Reserve.