UNITED STATES

Patrick Mortimer, head of Morgan Stanley's (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) U.S. prime brokerage business, resigned this week amid declining assets and profits of hedge fund clients that make up the division's client base, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Privately-held QuickPlay Media Inc plans to deliver full length popular television shows to BlackBerry smartphone screens via Research In Motion's applications store after forging agreements with TV networks, including NBC, CBS Corp and MTV.

Congress can fight the epidemic of childhood obesity by getting junk food out of school stores and snack machines, a parent-teacher group and the American Dietetic Association said on Tuesday.

Stocks climbed on Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its best month since October 2002, as investors snapped up top-performing bank and technology shares as the first quarter came to an end.

Honda Motor Co Ltd said on Tuesday it would cut production in North America by 62,000 vehicles by shutting down factories for 13 days starting in May and said it would cut pay for salaried and factory workers.

Sun Microsystems Inc. on Tuesday said it is laying off 1,500 workers in US and international operations, at “all functions, geographies and levels,” including vice presidents and directors.

Microsoft shares were raise to Buy from Neutral, as shares rose about 6 percent to $18.37 in the afternoon trading

General Motors warned on Tuesday there was a rising chance it could file for bankruptcy by June as Fiat and Chrysler executives met in a race to complete a tie-up the U.S. government has said Chrysler needs to survive.

France threatened on Tuesday to storm out of this week's G20 summit if it did not get the results it wanted, despite Britain's call for countries to unite and restore confidence to a broken world economy.

American Airlines is expanding in-flight WiFi service to 150 aircraft this year, allowing passengers to surf the Web and check their e-mails while in the air.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives launched a sweeping effort on Tuesday to control greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time help industries that will struggle to meet the proposed environmental requirements.

People in the Iraqi city of Basra fear the U.S. troops taking over from departing British forces, whose relatively light touch contrasts with the U.S. military's fearsome, and sometimes trigger-happy, reputation.

Iran offered help in combating the Afghan drugs trade on Tuesday, in a gesture to a U.S. call for regional support in Afghanistan that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as promising.

President Barack Obama arrived in Europe on Tuesday with a hefty agenda for tackling the economic crisis and seeking support for his new Afghanistan strategy on a trip that will test his global leadership.

Global information technology spending will fare worse in 2009 than during the dotcom bubble collapse of 2001, industry research firm Gartner Inc said on Tuesday in cutting earlier projections.

The World Bank announced a $50 billion program on Tuesday to counter a decline in global trade and Britain called on G20 leaders to supply the oxygen of confidence to drag the world economy out of recession.

Sony Computer Entertainment America said Tuesday it will cut the price of its PlayStation 2 game system by 23 percent to $99.99 as of April 1.

General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co announced a new series of incentives covering payments if customers lose their jobs, joining rivals in offering heavy discounts to attract consumers sidelined by the recession.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads for a summit of world leaders this week having strengthened his president's hand by rolling out key pieces of a U.S. financial rescue plan.

General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will close more U.S. plants and cut more jobs and still faces a higher probability of bankruptcy to shed debt, GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said on Tuesday.

U.S. activist investors are seeking to oust board members at beleaguered banks whom they blame for helping cause the companies' financial woes, setting the stage for drama at upcoming annual shareholder meetings.