IBT Staff Reporter

The biggest changes to home loan disclosures since the 1970s are around the corner and many in the industry are warning that misunderstandings will create a logjam of confusion just as housing tries to recover.

The third government estimate of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in the Third Quarter was lowered to an annual rate of 2.2 percent on Tuesday from an initial 3.5 percent growth estimate on October 29.

The overseas arm of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp is expected to set an 8.40 percent coupon on bonds it is selling to raise up to 24 billion rupees ($515 million), two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Mexico City became the first capital in Catholic, often macho Latin America to allow same-sex marriage on Monday when city legislators passed a law giving gay couples full marriage rights.

Nepal's former Maoist rebels gave the government a month on Tuesday to pave the way for a unity government headed by them or face an indefinite countrywide shutdown in a conflict that threatens a fragile peace process.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Greece's government bond ratings to A2 from A1 on Tuesday, noting a negative outlook for the nation unless the government can follow through on its plan by increasing tax revenues and/or reining in expenditure.

A German mediator arrived in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with Israel's response to a proposed deal with Hamas to secure the release of a captured Israel soldier in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

China condemned claims ascribed to Britain's climate change minister that it had hijacked negotiations in Copenhagen, saying on Tuesday the accusations were an attempt to sow discord among poor countries.

Eurostar trains between Britain and France resumed on Tuesday after three-days of cancellations because of heavy snow, but severe weather conditions continued to cause travel chaos in Britain.

Russia and the United States plan unprecedented cuts to their Cold War arsenals of nuclear weapons under a new arms reduction deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

A suicide bomber killed three people outside a popular media club on Tuesday in Peshawar, officials said, a key northwestern Pakistan town that has become the epicentre of Islamabad's battle against militants.

A leaked memo appearing to show Tehran's efforts to design an atomic bomb trigger was forged by the United States, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a U.S. news programme.

When A-Power Energy Generation Systems secured a deal to supply turbines for a U.S. wind farm project in October, the little-known Chinese firm had an ace up its sleeve to help it clinch the deal.

China has issued new Internet regulations, including what appears to be an effort to create a whitelist of approved websites that could potentially place much of the Internet off-limits to Chinese readers.

Stock index futures were higher on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, as investors awaited a final reading on third-quarter economic growth and existing home sales data.

Stock index futures were higher on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, as investors awaited a final reading on third-quarter economic growth and existing home sales data.

France will continue to use data stolen from a Geneva private bank in its drive against tax evasion, its budget minister said on Tuesday, a day after French officials agreed to return the client lists to Switzerland.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.28 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.27 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.51 percent at 3:40 a.m. EST.

Tokyo stock market rose to its highest close in three months on Tuesday as exporters were spurred by the dollar's rally against the yen and technology shares gained off the back of an Intel upgrade.

The dollar held firm on Tuesday against major currencies, and hit a two-month high against the yen, while Asian shares edged up as technology stocks tracked a rally in their peers on Wall Street.

Oil held steady on Tuesday ahead of an OPEC meeting, with the firmer dollar countering an expected fall in crude and distillate inventories in the United States along with the sustained strong demand in China.

Inflation's Breathing Room; Innocent Pleas in Galleon Case;Storm May be Costly

General Motors Co has hired Chris Liddell, the chief financial officer of Microsoft Corp , as its new finance chief, bringing in a well-regarded auto outsider who could succeed GM's acting CEO Ed Whitacre when he steps aside.

U.S. banks that spent more money on lobbying were more likely to get government bailout money, according to a study released on Monday.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said Monday in a statement an explosion-type earthquake launched a cloud of ash about 500 meters into the air.

Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and co-defendant Danielle Chiesi asserted their innocence on Monday to charges of securities fraud, in what U.S. prosecutors describe as the biggest hedge fund insider trading case ever.

The Britain's climate change secretary Ed Miliband said Monday that China had led a group of countries that hijacked the negotiations, admitting that Copenhagen summit failed to achieve what had been hoped for.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held marathon talks with cabinet ministers on Monday but without any announcement for a prisoner swap with Gaza's Hamas rulers to secure the release of a captured soldier.

U.S. lawmakers face an uphill battle enacting a climate bill in 2010 that includes a cap-and-trade market in greenhouse gases, after this month's U.N. meeting in Copenhagen failed to hammer out a global pact on emissions cuts.