IBT Staff Reporter

Germany's economics minister ruled out any attempt by General Motors to include an option to buy back majority control of Opel as part of a deal to give up over 50 percent of its German unit in exchange for state aid.

Several large investment firms are creating new lending companies that plan to go public to raise billions of dollars to take advantage of the distress in the commercial real estate market, and more are on the horizon.

Second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product figures are likely to be better than the first quarter, showing some signs of improvements in the economy, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said on Sunday.

The Swiss foreign minister is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 31, just days before a deadline to reach a settlement in a damaging U.S. tax case against UBS .

More than 80 percent of the U.S. banks that received federal bailout funds said the money had helped them increase lending or avoid a drop in lending as the recession worsened earlier this year, according to a new survey released on Sunday.

CIT Group Inc was in talks with a bondholder group on Saturday, as the lender tried to hammer out a rescue financing deal before markets opened and avoid bankruptcy, a source close to the situation said.

CIT Group Inc was in talks with a bondholder group on Saturday, as the lender tried to hammer out a rescue financing deal before markets opened and avoid bankruptcy, a source close to the situation said.

Corsair announced its new Extreme SSD series as additional to the lines of the company's solid state drives.

State-owned China Investment Corp., the nation's sovereign wealth fund, had agreed to buy 40% of Citic Capital Holdings Ltd., Caijing reported on Friday, citing a company letter addressed to investors.

China's online shopping rose by 18.9% over the first six months despite traditional retailing's struggle to keep their customers amid the economic downturn, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.

Australasian Resources Ltd (Australasian) has terminated its project agreement with China's 4th largest steelmaker, Shougang Corporation (Shougang), Australasian said on Thursday, adding that it has begun talks with other interested parties.

Former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, whose authoritative delivery of news events from the John F. Kennedy assassination to the Apollo moon landing and Vietnam War, made him the most trusted man in America, died on Friday at age 92.

A 23-foot long 'Weinermobile' in the shape of an Oscar Mayer hot dog crashed into a Wisconsin home on Friday creating a sound which one 11-year old witness described as a gunshot, although no injuries were reported, according to a report.

CIT Group, the U.S. lender caught in a liquidity crunch which may lead to a bankruptcy filing as soon as Monday, had planned for government assistance as a first and second resort, a senior Obama administration official said, according the Wall Street Journal.

American cyclist Lance Armstrong lost the third overall position in the Tour de France on Saturday during stage 14 of the race as George Hincapie also from the U.S. entered among the first three.

Porsche SE's controlling families will agree on Thursday to accept an offer by Volkswagen to buy its sports car business Porsche AG for roughly 8 billion euros ($11.28 billion), Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

A group of 52 British school children and their teachers have been quarantined in Beijing after four pupils were admitted to hospital infected with the H1N1 flu virus, Britain's Foreign Office said Saturday.

Three Republican senators said Friday they will back President Barack Obama's choice of Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, setting the stage for a likely easy confirmation.

Paul McCartney performed at Citi Field in New York City Friday night pleasing his fans with songs from his days with the Beatles, his next band Wings, and solo albums.

Somali pirates fired in the air in jubilation after receiving a $1.8 million (1.1 million pounds) ransom in exchange for the release of a German-owned vessel and its 11-member crew, pirate sources and officials said on Saturday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met survivors of the Mumbai attacks, talked climate change with Indian industrialists and was serenaded by village women as she visited India's financial capital on Saturday.

Henry Allingham, the world's oldest man and one of the last survivors of World War One, has died at the age of 113, his care home said on Saturday.

Iranian hardliners hit back at former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Saturday for criticizing the conduct of last month's election and its aftermath, highlighting deepening establishment divisions.

The oldest man in the world, Henry Allingham, died at the age 113 during his sleep at St. Duntstan's care home in Ovingdean, England, his care home said Saturday, according to CNN.

Chinese police shot dead 12 Uighur rioters in Xinjiang this month, regional governor Nuer Baikeli said on Saturday, in a rare government admission of deaths inflicted by security forces.

CIT Group Inc is in talks with a group of bondholders for $2 billion to $3 billion in rescue financing as it tries hard to avoid bankruptcy, a source close to the company said late on Friday.

Former CBS anchorman, Walter Cronkite died Friday night in his Manhattan home following a long illness.

Porsche SE's controlling families will agree on Thursday to accept an offer by Volkswagen to buy its sports car business Porsche AG for roughly 8 billion euros ($11.28 billion), Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

A U.S. securities industry lobbying group said on Friday it supports a proposal by the Obama administration to hold brokers to a higher standard for protecting clients' interests when giving investment advice.