IBT Staff Reporter

The government agency that supervises the communications industry should free up unused airwaves to make the high-speed Internet access market more competitive, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.

U.S. stock index futures were flat on Tuesday as investors awaited factory orders and pending home sales data for more signs about an economic recovery a day after the Dow and the S&P rallied to their highest closes in more than 15 months.

U.S. stock index futures were flat on Tuesday as investors awaited factory orders and pending home sales data for more signs about an economic recovery a day after the Dow and the S&P rallied to their highest closes in more than 15 months.

British actor and notorious Twitter enthusiast Stephen Fry told fans who follow his musings on the micro-blogging site that he's taking a break from tweeting in order to write a book.

Dueling Autos in India; Threat to Walk Away; Japan Bank Raising Cash

Nestle ruled itself out of a bid war over Cadbury and Kraft sweetened its $16.4 billion offer with a bigger cash portion, raising expectations the U.S. food group will win its prize.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group , Japan's third-largest bank by assets, plans to raise up to $8.7 billion by issuing new shares to meet stricter capital requirements and for potential acquisitions in Asia, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Airbus set itself on a possible collision course with the German government on Tuesday by signaling it was ready to walk away from a delayed 20 billion euro military plane project in a row over costs.

The world's top mobile phone maker, Nokia, has launched another court case against Apple for alleged patent violations, in an increasingly fierce legal battle between two leaders of the smartphone market.

Toyota Motor Co and Honda Motor Co launched new compact cars to tap the fast-growing and price-sensitive India market as they and other automakers seek to put a dire 2009 behind them.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.02 to 0.2 percent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street on Tuesday.

Optimism about the world economy buoyed global equities on Tuesday, particularly in emerging markets, but the dollar continued its weak start to 2010.

Kraft Foods Inc sweetened its 10.2 billion pound ($16.4 billion) offer for Britain's Cadbury Plc with cash from a deal to sell its North American pizza unit to Swiss food giant Nestle .

An independent committee of directors of Alcon is disappointed with a takeover bid from Novartis , saying the Swiss drugmaker is trying to circumvent protections for minority shareholders.

Toyota Motor Co , seeking to draw a line under a dire 2009, is ramping up in India with the launch of a new low-cost compact car to tap the fast-growing market.

Kraft Foods Inc on Tuesday said it was raising the cash portion of its hostile 10 billion pound ($16 billion) takeover offer for Britain's Cadbury Plc by 60 pence per share, funded by a deal to sell its North American pizza unit to Swiss food giant Nestle.

Asia stocks rose to a 17-month high on Tuesday as growing confidence about the prospects for the global economy drew investors to riskier assets and away from the dollar, which extended its weak start to the year.

Looser foreign exchange policies in emerging Asia, particularly China, would benefit everyone but the desire for change may have diminished post-crisis, European Central Bank policymaker Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said on Tuesday.

Lenovo Group Ltd on Monday formally took the wraps off its first smartbook, a device that breaks free from the traditional Wintel hold on the mobile computing segment.

Growing confidence about the global economy lifted Asian stocks to a fresh 17-month high on Tuesday as investors continued to be drawn to riskier assets, while the dollar stabilized after a weak start to the year.

The dollar steadied on Tuesday, keeping broad losses made the previous day, as growing hopes for a global economic recovery encouraged investors to shift funds to riskier assets from the greenback. The dollar was also under pressure from fund mangers trying to rebuild their portfolios at the start of the year by buying stocks, commodities and higher-yielding currencies.

Let's have a cup of tea is an offer that many can't resist in India.Meetings and discussions can't take place without this favourite beverage. But it is by no means unique to India, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), it has become a global habit no matter the price. But in 2009, tea growers gained as production slumped due to bad weather in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya and tea prices zoomed to all time high.

World oil prices advanced near $82 a barrel in Asian trade Tuesday mainly on better demand for fuel as winter weather spreads to more areas in the northern hemisphere. Lights sweet crude for February delivery was seen trading at $81.84 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude was at $80.47 a barrel at the same time.

Do you know among the commodities metals were the best performing ones in 2009? If not, remember that not only gold other metals also performed extremely well in 2009 riding on hopes for a global economic recovery and fears of runaway inflation.

Building Materials Holding Corp said on Monday that it has exited U.S. bankruptcy protection as secured lenders have converted their debt into equity ownership of the company.

Ford Motor's China car venture sold 316,139 units in 2009, up 54.5 percent from a year earlier, its Chinese partner said on Tuesday.

U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp said on Monday it plans to move its corporate office to the Washington, D.C. area from Los Angeles by 2011.

The headphone maker Koss Corp said on Monday it fired Grant Thornton LLP as its auditor, will restate at least three years of results and has expanded an internal probe into alleged embezzlement by a finance executive who was also terminated.

EA Sports said on Monday it was moving forward with plans to introduce a Tiger Woods online game despite the top golfer's public relations nightmare and drastic drop in popularity following his adultery scandal.