UNITED STATES

Oil fell nearly $2 a barrel on Tuesday, tracking U.S. stock market losses ahead of what is expected to be a miserable first-quarter earnings season, while the market eyed another rise in U.S. crude inventories.

U.S. consumer borrowing fell sharply in February after rising for the first time in three months in January a Federal Reserve report showed on Tuesday.

The number of empty seats on planes flown by U.S. airlines is rising this year despite aggressive fare sales and capacity cuts, darkening the outlook for industry earnings in the first quarter and beyond.

Oil fell below $50 a barrel on Tuesday, tracking U.S. stock market losses ahead of what is expected to be a miserable first-quarter earnings season, while the market eyed another rise in U.S. crude inventories.

Alcoa Inc shares fell on Tuesday, hours before the aluminum producer was scheduled to report what was expected to be a second consecutive quarterly loss.

President Barack Obama flew to Baghdad on Tuesday to meet U.S. military commanders and Iraqi leaders and assess security there first-hand after announcing a strategy to wind down the six-year war he opposed.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as investors braced for what is expected to be another dismal earnings season and the specter of bankruptcy at General Motors resurfaced.

U.S. diversified manufacturer Emerson Electric Co cut its 2009 profit forecast on Tuesday, saying that customers across its business segments had reduced their spending.

The chief executive of Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday the economic crisis had been deeply humbling for financial firms, and banks receiving taxpayer bailout money need to pay back the funds as soon as possible.

The Empire State Building is going green in a model project that will save about $4.4 million a year on energy.

China urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to act carefully in responding to North Korea's rocket launch, maintaining there is a basic distinction between satellite and missile technology.

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Tuesday dumped veteran economy minister Pedro Solbes in a cabinet reshuffle aimed at reviving a government struggling with a deep recession.

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to visit Kazakhstan as part of a wider tour of Central Asia, Kazakhstan's upper house of parliament quoted him on Tuesday as saying.

U.S. President Barack Obama ended his trip to Muslim Turkey on Tuesday by calling for peace and dialogue with Islam and the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

The United States has long served to draw top talent from other countries, particularly into its Information Technology sector, but a new push from lawmakers may limit the number of new workers that can enter the country.

Pfizer Inc said on Tuesday it will have two research chiefs -- one in charge of traditional medicines and one in charge of biotech drugs and vaccines -- when the drugmaker completes its planned purchase of smaller U.S. rival Wyeth .

More than two-thirds of U.S. chief executives plan additional layoffs and expect sales to decline in the next six months as their confidence in the economy continues to fall, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Stocks fell on Tuesday as investors braced for what is expected to be another dismal earnings season and fresh worries surfaced over the amount of toxic assets on bank balance sheets.

The estimate of toxic debts on bank and insurance balance sheets originating from the U.S. is now $3.1 trillion from $2.2 trillion in October, the International Monetary Fund will likely say later this month, according to a report.

Major U.S. retailers likely ended March with lackluster sales as consumers put off Easter and Spring purchases for April.

Major U.S. retailers likely ended March with lackluster sales as consumers put off Easter and Spring purchases for April.