IBT Staff Reporter

A Banco Santander SA investment management company will pay $235 million to the trustee winding down the securities business formerly run convicted swindler Bernard Madoff.

Oil hit a fresh six-month high on Tuesday, bolstered by U.S. consumer confidence data and comments from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia that prices may continue to rise.

Germany pressed suitors of General Motors unit Opel to improve their offers and a fourth bidder from China emerged on the eve of a top-level meeting to decide the fate of the carmaker.

Two Texas men defrauded investors of some $19.5 million by faking bank records to show that their business, Global One, achieved annual returns of more than 23 percent in foreign exchange trading, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday.

Stocks rose on Tuesday as data showing the biggest monthly jump in consumer confidence in six years lifted hopes of an economic rebound, and a brokerage upgrade of Apple Inc drove sharp gains on the Nasdaq.

Nokia opened its online software and content store on Tuesday, hoping to follow the success of Apple Inc's App Store, but the opening was overshadowed by technical glitches and negative reviews.

Corrects spelling of SACEM in ninth paragraph

The rule of thumb that often guides U.S. central bank interest rate policy suggests that the federal funds rate will need to remain near zero for several years, a top Federal Reserve economist said on Tuesday.

While teaching speech communication at the University of Georgia, I left the campus twice weekly during a summer session, to instruct a highly unusual audience: thirty-one inmates at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, enrolled through the university's extension program. Immediately, I noticed that my prison students used words and phrases totally unfamiliar to me.

Apple's iTunes online music store may reach more customers throughout Europe after the body tasked with collecting artist royalties in France agreed to allow counterparts elsewhere to license its catalog.

Myanmar government lifted the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest Tuesday before it expired on Wednesday. But Suu Kyi still remains in detention while she was on charges of breaking the terms of house arrest.

Ireland's Catholic order of Christian Brothers, reeling from a report cataloguing decades of rapes and beatings of children by priests, bowed to pressure on Tuesday and said it would review compensation to victims.

Mobile phone giant Nokia rolled out its Ovi Store online store to an estimated 5 million Nokia device owners across more than 50 Nokia devices, but its first day of operations were met with complaints.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that police, under certain circumstances, can initiate an interrogation of a suspect without the defendant's lawyer being present.

North Korea will pay a price for its latest nuclear test if it does not reverse course but the door remains open to talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

Russia signed a landmark deal to supply nuclear fuel directly to U.S. companies on Tuesday, setting itself up to control 20 percent of the U.S. uranium market and extending its global reach in the nuclear sector.

The Democratic-led U.S. Senate must vote to confirm President Barack Obama's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Oil rose slightly on Tuesday, lifted by U.S. consumer confidence data and comments from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia that oil demand has begun to pick up.

Stocks climbed on Tuesday after data showing a sharp rise in consumer confidence suggested the economic downturn was easing and a brokerage upgrade of Apple Inc lifted technology stocks

Apple's iTunes online music store may reach more customers throughout Europe after the body tasked with collecting artist royalties in France agreed to allow counterparts elsewhere to license its catalog.

Hong Kong government released an additional HK$16.8 billion ($2.2 billion) stimulus plan on Tuesday in order to boost the local economy and counter the impact of the global financial downturn.

Facebook sold a 1.96 percent stake for $200 million to a technology investment firm, valuing the largest social networking site at $10 billion, the two companies said on Tuesday.

Advanta Corp., a banking group that offers credit cards to small businesses, sent out an email to its customers on Tuesday that explained why it moved its credit-freeze date to May 30th from June 10, its original date.

General Motors Corp has failed to persuade enough bondholders to accept a debt-for-equity swap, setting the stage for the largest-ever U.S. industrial bankruptcy by the end of this month.

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would hear an appeal by Merck & Co Inc of a ruling that reinstated a securities fraud lawsuit involving the company's disclosures to investors about its withdrawn Vioxx pain drug.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday after data from an industry group showed that consumer confidence rose in May, boosting optimism that the recession may be abating, and a broker upgrade of Apple Inc lifted technology stocks.

U.S. consumer confidence soared in May to its highest level in eight months, suggesting underlying improvement in the economy after a grim first quarter that witnessed a record plunge in home prices.

Microsoft's Windows Vista officially entered into its Service Pack 2 (SP2) phase on Tuesday after releasing its second service pack for the operating system.

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that nearly 13,000 people have been confirmed infected with the new H1N1 flu strain but the number of countries affected is stable at 46.