UNITED STATES

The U.S. government and Swiss bank UBS have reached an agreement in a case seeking names of approximately 52,000 names of suspected American tax evaders. The governments have initialed agreements and will later sign a final accord, Justice Department lawyer Stuart Gibson told U.S. District Judge Alan Gold in Miami today, Bloomberg reported.

President Barack Obama assailed insurance companies on Tuesday as he sought to counter an onslaught of conservative opposition to a U.S. healthcare overhaul at a town hall meeting that drew protests outside.

A U.S. federal court ruled that Microsoft Corp would have to pay more than $290 million in damages to Canadian software firm i4i Ltd for infringing a patent.

The dollar is little changed against its major rivals Wednesday morning as the market largely shrugs off U.S. trade data for June and focuses on the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

Oil rose back above $70 a barrel on Wednesday as equity markets climbed, but concerns about the strength of demand and a jump in U.S. crude inventories kept gains in check.

Stocks rose on Wednesday after a selloff in the previous session, with technology shares gaining, as homebuilder stocks rallied after a positive earnings report from Toll Brothers Inc.

U.S. mortgage applications fell last week, reflecting a drop in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates soared to their highest levels since June, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Two foreign journalists embedded with the U.S. military in Afghanistan were wounded by a roadside bomb, the Associated Press said on Wednesday.

Russian leaders are stuck in their imperial past and seem to relish bullying and threatening their neighbors, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday, responding to a tirade from Moscow the previous day.

Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. home funding source, said on Wednesday it sold $3.0 billion in bills at lower interest rates, compared with sale of the same maturities than a week ago.

Oil reversed early losses on Wednesday rising toward $71 a barrel on equity markets, after falling to the lowest in August so far due to concerns about the strength of demand ahead of weekly U.S. inventory data.

Starwood Property Trust Inc priced shares for $20 on Tuesday and twice boosted the number of shares offered in what is likely to emerge as the largest U.S. initial public stock offering of the year.

Emdeon Inc shares started trading for $17.75 in their debut on Wednesday following their initial public offering, and rose to as much as $18.24.

Police on Tuesday conducted a new raid of a Las Vegas medical facility in their ongoing probe into the death of Michael Jackson, this time searching a pharmacy for documents and computer records.

The speaker of Iran's parliament on Wednesday rejected as baseless an opposition leader's accusation that moderates had been raped in jail following their detention in unrest linked to June's disputed presidential poll.

American International Group, seeking to raise cash to repay around $180 billion in bail-out loans, has agreed to sell its Hong Kong consumer finance and India-based IT services units.

Fed at Crossroads; Breakthrough in Tax Case; Cooling Clunkers

U.S. coal giant Peabody Energy Corp. said Australia's planned carbon trade scheme would hurt investment in coal mines and could force mine closures as Australia's parliament prepares to vote down the scheme.

The U.S. government and Swiss bank UBS AG have initialled agreements to settle their tax evasion dispute, a U.S. government attorney said on Wednesday, ending weeks of tough negotiations between the two sides.

U.S. consumer confidence rose in August, mirroring gains in the stock market, a survey released on Tuesday said.

Red hot auto sales under the U.S. government's cash for clunkers incentive began to cool as dealer inventories tightened and showroom traffic showed signs of leveling off from its frantic pace of a week ago.