IBT Staff Reporter

Santa Claus has brought an early Christmas gift to the earthlings - NASA has discovered an Earth-like planet outside our solar system whose distance from its on star makes it "habitable."

Plan a trip to the rejuvenating Dead Sea now before it shrinks!

Lehman Brothers Holdings Corp, now just the odds and ends of the global financial behemoth that collapsed in September 2008, received court approval on Tuesday to exit bankruptcy early next year.

Stocks rose on Tuesday as investors bet European leaders would take strong steps this week to end the region's debt crisis, including bolstering its financial rescue fund.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner threw his weight on Tuesday behind a Franco-German plan to tackle the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis and said the European Central Bank had to play a major role in any solution.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday pushed back against reports that the Fed had lent banks $7.77 trillion or more during the financial crisis, saying they contained egregious errors and mistakes.

Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet, one of the hottest gadgets this holiday season because of its low price, has some parents bristling over the simplicity at which children can order from the retail giant and the inability to stop them without crippling the device.

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he would call for legislation to strengthen penalties against Wall Street companies that break anti-fraud rules.

Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet, one of the hottest gadgets this holiday season because of its low price, has some parents bristling over the simplicity at which children can order from the retail giant and the inability to stop them without crippling the device.

Wireless service provider Verizon Wireless said it was not blocking Google Inc's payments app, Google Wallet, on its latest smartphone, and said it was still in talks with Google about the service.

Stocks advanced on Tuesday and were near session highs as investors showed a muted reaction to the S&P's recent downgrade warning for the euro zone.

AT&T and Sprint Nextel Corp. agreed in separate court filings Tuesday that Sprint's legal case against the $39 billion AT&T/T-Mobile USA merger should begin after the trial with the U.S. Department of Justice is complete, Bloomberg reported.

Wireless service provider Verizon Wireless will not include Google Inc's payments app Google Wallet on its latest smartphone Galaxy Nexus this month.

The Federal Reserve looks set to hold off on easing monetary policy for a second meeting in a row as it gauges the impact of Europe's crisis on the U.S. economy and ponders additional transparency steps.

A court in southern China has rejected a lawsuit by Apple Inc, accusing a Chinese technology company of infringing its iPad trademark, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, the latest move in a protracted tug-of-war over the name.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in Germany on Tuesday that the European Central Bank was playing a positive role in the euro zone debt crisis, but he played down talk that the U.S. Federal Reserve could boost IMF funding for the crisis.

A woman in the border city of Laredo, Texas who was angry because she had been denied food stamps killed herself and shot and critically wounded her two children late on Monday, authorities said on Tuesday.

India has urged social network companies including Facebook, Twitter and Google to remove offensive material, unleashing a storm of criticism from Internet users complaining of censorship in the world's largest democracy.

Fans of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers snapped up shares in the opening minutes of the team's public stock sale on Tuesday, slowing the website under demand for an ownership that conveys mainly bragging rights.

President Barack Obama revealed a secret crush and Caroline Kennedy crooned to her namesake song on Sunday at the Kennedy Center Honors, which celebrated actress Meryl Streep and singer Neil Diamond.

Singer Adele notched a new record Monday, when the Official Charts Company (OCC) confirmed that her second album 21 had become the biggest seller in Britain this century.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management has hired a former Goldman Sachs banker to join its ultra high net worth family advisory team in Los Angeles, the firm said on Monday.

China's Qihoo 360 Technology Co denied once again a report that alleged the online services provider was either committing fraud or was misleading Wall Street about its revenue model.

Police extended moves aimed at keeping anti-Wall street protesters from camping on Monday, arresting 11 people in Orlando and San Diego after a weekend clampdown in cities on both the East and West coasts netted scores of arrests.

Wells Fargo & Co is well positioned for upcoming stress tests of the largest U.S. banks, Chief Executive John Stumpf said on Tuesday.

Thin film solar company Miasole is seeking a partner to help support its growth plan, but plans to remain a standalone company for now, its new chief executive said on Monday.

If you were praying Amy Winehouse at least left behind a lot of great unreleased material when she left us last August, prepare to have your hopes dashed by her posthumous release, Lioness: Hidden Treasures. As it turns out, Winehouse's vault couldn't be much emptier if Geraldo Rivera were shining a flashlight into it on live television.

There is a significant chance that the Federal Reserve will embark on a third round of asset purchases to stimulate the U.S. economy, a major bond fund manager said on Tuesday.

Peter Weller, the veteran actor who played the title role in the 1987 Robocop, has joined J.J. Abrams' next Star Trek movie, TheWrap has confirmed.