IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. businesses continued to postpone financing new investments in their operations in January, but delinquencies among existing borrowers stabilized and outright defaults fell.

The Austin Independent School District said today it anticipates normal schedule operations on Wednesday, February 24.

U.S. consumer confidence sagged to a 10-month low this month on worries about jobs and fears gridlock in Washington could hinder efforts to restart employment, curbing the economic recovery.

Two regional Federal Reserve banks led by more hawkish policymakers began a push to raise the discount rate for Fed emergency bank loans in mid-January, according to minutes of a Fed board meeting released on Tuesday.

For retailers that sell everything from toilet paper to refrigerators, 2010 may be more about winning sales from competitors than about getting consumers to buy a lot more of their merchandise.

ESPN's TV commentator Tony Kornheiser has reportedly been susppended following critics he made to SportCenter's host Hannah Storm.

U.S. stocks suffered their biggest one-day decline in nearly three weeks on Tuesday after a sharp drop in consumer confidence heightened worries over one of the most vulnerable areas of the economy.

Xerox Corp has sued Google Inc and Yahoo Inc, accusing them of infringing the document management company's patents related to Internet search.

The Australian Dollar opens sharply lower on Wednesday just under US89 cents after weaker than expected U.S. consumer confidence data released overnight took the wind out of the sails of higher yielding currencies and riskier assets.

U.S. stocks suffered their biggest one-day decline in nearly three weeks on Tuesday after a sharp drop in consumer confidence heightened worries over one of the most vulnerable areas of the economy.

Till now the question was whether a group of currencies would replace the dollar or even gold? Now, here comes the prediction amidst global warming and cllimate change concerns that carbon credit will replace the US dollar as the currency of international trading within five years.

The U.S. stock market tracked losses of worldwide assets as Europe and the U.S. reported gloomy data on Tuesday.

Google's assertion that its computers were attacked by hackers based in China was groundless, Beijing said on Tuesday, hardening its rhetoric in a spat with Washington over Internet freedom.

Presidents and high-ranking representatives of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries agreed to create a new organization without the United States and Canada on Tuesday.

Toyota Motor Corp apologized for letting safety standards slip during a period of fast growth and vowed to respond more quickly to consumer complaints as two days of congressional hearings crucial to the automaker's reputation began on Tuesday.

Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley is joining former beauty queen, Carrie Prejean, is saying that she also disagrees with same-sex marriage.

Many independent travelers, despite the best intentions of steering clear, often succumb to the allure of a guided day tour.

They call it the most dangerous road in the world. Yungas Road has earned its reputation by claiming hundreds of victims. Every year. I'm deciding to travel down this road. By bicycle.

Greece may decide that more measures to cut the deficit are needed after discussing its fiscal situation with visiting European Union inspectors, the finance minister said on Tuesday.

Jack In The Box is giving away a free sandwich today, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010, but it comes with a small catch. If a free sandwich is not enough for today, you are in luck. IHOP is offering free pancakes as part of National Pancake Day.

Young men who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day or more had IQ scores 7.5 points lower than non-smokers, Dr. Mark Weiser of Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and his colleagues found.

AutoNation Inc Chief Executive Mike Jackson said that Toyota Motor Corp's U.S. sales will recover by April, but only if the automaker offers customer incentives.

China moved to tighten its grip on the flow of Internet information this Tuesday, saying individuals who want to operate Websites must first receive approval from regulators.

Toyota Motor Corp promised a quality shake-up and apologized for safety mistakes that it blamed on rapid growth.

U.S. Senate Banking Committee members are considering a narrow version of the so-called Volcker rule, which was proposed by the White House to curb banks' risky activities, sources familiar with the panel's thinking said on Tuesday.

Consumers Union issued a call on Tuesday for urgent changes to strengthen U.S. auto safety regulation in the wake of a massive recall by Toyota Motor Corp.

A worse-than-expected drop in consumer confidence pushed U.S. stocks lower on Tuesday as investors worried over what remains one of the weakest areas of the economy.

South African police are investigating the disappearance of a German auto executive who went missing three weeks ago while on a business trip to the country.

Mobile phone subscriptions will buck the economic crisis and top five billion this year, but the high speed Internet remains a digital divide between rich and developing countries, a U.N. agency said on Tuesday.