IBT Staff Reporter

Four earthquakes hit the coastlines of Baja California, at the Northwest of Mexico on Monday but no word of damage or injuries were immediately reported.

Somali pirates freed a German ship seized in April on Monday after receiving a ransom and a Malaysian-owned tug boat has also been released after being held for more than seven months.

A plan to increase U.S. troops in Colombia is drawing opposition not just from left-wing populist leaders in the region but from the moderate governments of Brazil and Chile as well.

Pakistan's Supreme Court adjourned an appeal hearing on Monday to decide whether to re-arrest the founder of a militant group said to have been behind the attacks on Mumbai last November.

Shares of UBS rose sharply on Monday as attention turned to details of an agreement ending the Swiss bank's dispute with U.S. authorities over whether it should reveal the identities of thousands of American clients.

Stocks rose on Monday, pushing the S&P 500 index above 1,000 for the first time in nine months, as data on the manufacturing sector underscored optimism that the economy was recovering.

Oil rose more than 3 percent to above $71 a barrel on Monday as positive manufacturing data in the United States and China raised optimism for an economic recovery that could bolster energy demand.

General Motors Co said on Monday its U.S. auto sales fell 19.4 percent in July from a year earlier, but retail sales rose from the month before for a fifth consecutive month, supported by the U.S. government's Cash for Clunkers incentives.

Top Japanese model Yuri Ebihara has made her mark in Asia but now she wants to take her place on the global catwalk alongside the world's supermodels.

Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has quit Apple Inc's board of directors, a move that may help defuse some scrutiny of their relationship as they compete in key markets.

Oil rose more than $2 a barrel to hit a one-month high above $72 on Monday as positive manufacturing data in the United States and China raised optimism for an economic recovery that could bolster energy demand.

Senior officials from Apple Inc will visit China to restart top level negotiations with China Unicom on iPhone's entry into the huge Chinese market, local media outlet Sina.com reported on Tuesday morning local time.

HSBC Holdings could raise 50 billion yuan ($7.3 billion) in a Shanghai listing next year as it vies to be one of the first foreign firms to list in China, according to people familiar with the matter.

Philadelphia Eagles middle linebacker Stewart Bradley will likely miss the season after suffering a knee injury Saturday night during Flight Night at Lincoln Financial Field.

China's banking regulator, concerned record lending could lead to a spike in bad loans, may tighten banks' capital rules by excluding subordinated bonds they sell to other banks from their capital base, sources said Monday.

More than 6,000 General Motors Co workers took buyout offers in the company's first month after emerging from bankruptcy, and it plans to cut its hourly workforce by another 7,500 through the end of 2009.

U.S. stocks climbed on Monday after data showed the hard-hit manufacturing sector edged closer to growth in July, pushing the S&P 500 above 1,000 for the first time in nine months.

Federal agents working with the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program executed search warrants at two Colonial Bank offices in Florida on Monday, local media reported.

International wholesale telephone call carrier iBasis Inc said on Monday it has filed a lawsuit against its majority Dutch owner KPN to block a buyout offer.

Leonhard Fischer may be a passionate collector of modern art, but the head of RHJ International has not added to the Belgian private equity firm's gallery of assets since he joined in late 2007.

Bank of America Corp has agreed to pay $33 million to settle charges that it made false and misleading statements to investors about bonuses at Merrill Lynch & Co, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday.

A rare, 5-carat pink diamond will be sold in Hong Kong this December by Christie's, which expects the stone to hover near world record prices, thanks in part to the buying prowess of top Asian jewelry collectors.

China, bruised by the collapse of a proposal to buy a Rio Tinto stake, could confine itself to project-level deals with miners to feed its hunger for metals and shun company acquisitions to avoid further loss of face.

Health insurer Humana Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday as an improved performance in its Medicare plans for the elderly offset a decline in earnings from its business serving employers.

Dozens of Honduran journalists and human rights activists have been attacked or threatened with violence by both the military and supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, a press watchdog said on Monday.

Troubled insurer American International Group Inc has chosen former MetLife chief Robert Benmosche as its new CEO, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

By the time Diane Kimsey called Jeannie Feenick, a sales associate with Weichert Realtors in Warren, N.J., in June 2008, the home owner had already conducted an exhaustive search for a real estate practitioner to list her Martinsville, N.J., home.

The punishing four-year decline in U.S. auto sales may have reached a turning point this week -- just as Michael Papa handed over the keys to his 1996 Ford Explorer for a government-sponsored trade-in.

Troubled insurer American International Group Inc has chosen former MetLife Inc chief Robert Benmosche as its new CEO, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.