IBT Staff Reporter

Pope Benedict comforted survivors of Italy's earthquake Tuesday and asked God to heed the silent cry of its victims rising from the earth.

Two more students at a Sacramento-area school have been confirmed to have swine flu, health officials said on Monday, bringing to 13 the number of known cases in California.

More than 40 people in five states have been sickened by new strain of swine flu that doctors fear may cause a pandemic, U.S. officials said on Monday, promising more cases to come.

Pakistani forces backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships began an offensive on Tuesday against Taliban fighters in a key valley 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad.

Weather experts are studying swine flu to see if climate could influence its spread and severity. Determining the impact of cold, heat, dryness and humidity on the H1N1 strain -- which has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and had milder effects elsewhere -- could illuminate the countries and regions most vulnerable to infection.

Nokia Oyj will cut up to 360 jobs at Internet services unit as it combines offerings into its new Ovi Store, the world's top cell phone maker said on Tuesday.

New Zealand and Israel confirmed cases of swine flu on Tuesday, the latest countries hit by a new strain that has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and which threatens to become a pandemic.

Honda Motor Co (7267.T) forecast a small profit for this year as it cuts costs to counter plunging car sales and a strong yen, and said its leading position in motorcyles is helping it cope with the severe global slowdown.

U.S. house prices tumbled nearly 19 percent in February but for the first time in 16 months the fall did not set a new record, suggesting the housing market might be closer to a bottom.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co on Tuesday said its first-quarter profit slipped 3 percent, as negative foreign exchange factors and falling sales of its Erbitux cancer medicine more than offset higher revenue from other medicines.

Wall Street was set for a drop of about 1 percent at the open on Tuesday as a report that Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc may need more capital revived fears about the stability of the struggling financial sector.

Office Depot Inc reported a quarterly loss on Tuesday as consumers and small business customers reduced their spending on large ticket items like furniture and computers.

Pfizer Inc reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday, as cost-cutting helped offset sharply lower sales of its Lipitor cholesterol fighter and its Chantix smoking-cessation drug.

Prices of U.S. single-family homes fell 18.6 percent in February from a year earlier but the rapid pace of decline slowed, perhaps indicating the housing market may be nudging closer to a bottom, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released on Tuesday.

Prices of U.S. single-family homes fell 18.6 percent in February from a year earlier but the rapid pace of decline slowed, perhaps indicating the housing market may be nudging closer to a bottom, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released on Tuesday.

Global airlines were warned on Tuesday of significant falls in traffic due to the outbreak of swine flu, and their shares took another hit on fears that the fallout could be at least as bad as that of the 2003 SARS crisis.

Japanese power companies will this week report for the first time the cost of buying carbon emissions offsets, a sum likely to rise in coming years as a recession does little to help them achieve self-imposed targets.

ScottishPower, a unit of Spain's Iberdrola, said on Monday its Whitelee wind farm near Glasgow is to be completed ahead of schedule in the next few weeks.

Idemitsu Kosan Co (5019.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it plans to invest as much as 600 billion yen ($6.2 billion) over the next three years, mostly on exploration and refining overseas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday it would reconsider three rules issued under the Bush administration that affect how coal-fired power plants account for their air emissions.

World Energy Solutions Inc, an operator of online exchanges for energy and environmental commodities, hopes to conduct auctions should a U.S. cap and trade market in greenhouse gases develop, its chief executive said in an interview.

A proposed federal mandate to force power companies to provide up to 25 percent renewable energy by 2025 is likely to have little impact on electric prices though 2020 and negligible impact after 2030, the Energy Information Administration said in a study Monday.

Oil prices fell toward $49 on Tuesday, extending Monday's losses as declines on global stock markets heightened expectations of a further drop in demand for oil products.

U.S. regulators have told Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc they may need to raise more capital following stress testing of the two banks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Fears about a possible global flu crisis and renewed worries over the capital health of some U.S. banks combined on Tuesday to rattle economists' hopes the financial system was stabilizing.

Removes references in paragraph 2 to Citigroup needing billions of dollars in new capital

British oil major BP Plc said it was learning to live with oil at $50 per barrel by slashing costs, after the crude price collapse sent first-quarter profit plummeting and debt levels higher.

Nokia Oyj , the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said on Tuesday it would reduce investment in creating new services, helping it to cut further 450 jobs.

Pfizer Inc reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday, as cost-cutting helped offset sharply lower sales of its Lipitor cholesterol fighter and its Chantix smoking-cessation drug.