IBT Staff Reporter

Pirate attacks on ships worldwide hit a seven year high in 2010 and a record number of crew were taken hostage, a maritime watchdog body said, despite increased patrolling of the seas.

The Austrian emissions trading registry has been closed until further notice due to a hacker attack on January 10, it said on its website.

Rafa Nadal opened his Australian Open campaign with a nasty, brutish and quick demolition of Marcos Daniel on Tuesday that ended after 46 minutes when the Brazilian journeyman retired injured.

Asia's largest literary festival kicks off this weekend in a historic Indian city, a testament to the growing global influence of Indian literature and its appeal to both publishers and authors.

A suicide bomber wearing a vest filled with explosives attacked Iraqi police recruits on Tuesday in former dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, killing at least 42 and wounding over 100, officials said.

U.S. chipmaker Intel will invest $2.7 billion over the next two years upgrading its chip plant in southern Israel to produce 22 nanometer technology.

Trade Minister Anand Sharma said on Tuesday monetary policy may not be the right tool to fight high food inflation, in a strong political signal against a rate hike in next week's Reserve Bank policy review.

State-run upstream firms are expected to give a total discount of 51.98 billion rupees ($1.14 billion) to retailers on fuel sales in the Oct-Dec 2010 quarter, up from a year ago, an industry source said on Tuesday

Nimble Asian technology firms led by Samsung Electronics appear well placed to slow the runaway success of Apple, as news of its visionary CEO Steve Jobs taking medical leave battered Apple's shares.

Toyota Motors Corp is developing new type of electric motor which does not require rare earth metals to cut its dependence on rare earth metals and lower costs.

World stocks hit a fresh 28-month high on Tuesday, while the euro climbed on hopes for an easing of the euro zone debt crisis.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.02 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.11 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.7 percent at 3:45 a.m. EST.

Mid-cap banks are likely to report another strong quarter of healthy profits in Oct-Dec on robust credit growth, but stressed liquidity in a rising interest rate environment could obstruct growth going forward.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.02 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.11 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.7 percent at 3:45 a.m. EST.

China said on Tuesday its rare earth exports rose 14.5 per cent in the Jan-Nov period of 2010 as prices more than doubled, with most of the shipments going to Japan, Europe and the United States.

A debate rages on over the role that educational institutions could play in preventing individuals like Loughner from causing a threat to public safety.

World’s number one mobile phone maker, Nokia will end bundling of free music downloads with cellphones in 27 countries but will continue to sell phones free music downloads in China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa.

Aileen WangSHANGHAI/BEIJING - China's central bank has reportedly cut its 2011 lending target for banks by 10 percent from last year in a bid to slow down free-wheeling lending and tame inflation.

UK-based mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse Plc said it expects full-year earnings per share to be at the top end of 13.5 pence to 14.0 pence range.

Investors showed growing scepticism on Tuesday that euro zone finance ministers will thrash out an agreement soon to beef up a rescue fund as part of measures to end the region's sovereign debt crisis.

Infosys Technologies Ltd on Tuesday said it will appeal an income tax department order demanding India's No. 2 software firm pay 4.57 billion rupees ($100 million) in tax for work done onshore.

Facebook's new modification on its privacy policy has yet again brought up concerns on security the social networking site manages to provide, after it enabled third-party application developers to access users' addresses and cell phone numbers.

Apple Inc is set to report a stunning 50 percent jump in quarterly sales on Tuesday, as its iPhone and iPad excited holiday shoppers, but the consumer electronics powerhouse may face more pressing questions about the health of iconic chief executive Steve Jobs.

British credit information group Experian Plc said total revenue rose 12 percent in the third quarter, with organic revenue up 8 percent, as it returned to positive growth across all regions and principal activities.

Asian technology shares gained, helped by hopes of a recovery in battered chip prices and expectations that nimble Asian firms may slow the runaway success of Apple Inc after news CEO Steve Jobs was taking medical leave.

The U.S. futures regulator hopes to fully implement its biggest crackdown on commodity market speculators by early 2012, a year after the deadline set by lawmakers, it said in a filing that gave the most detailed legal argument and timeline yet for the controversial plan.

China's central bank has cut its 2011 lending target for banks by 10 percent from last year, the official Securities Journal reported Tuesday, citing unidentified banking sources.

The euro rose slightly against the dollar on Tuesday but lingering concerns over the euro zone's debt crisis limited its gains, while Asian tech shares rallied on hopes for a recovery in battered memory chip prices.

Citigroup Inc, the bank that took $45 billion in U.S. bailout funds during the financial crisis, is widely expected to report its fourth consecutive quarterly profit on Tuesday, signaling to investors that it has largely completed its recovery.