IBT Staff Reporter

New data-protection proposals from the European Union to help people regain control of personal information from sites like Facebook could prove as effective as commanding the tide, while hurting small firms and Web giants alike.

Italian police seized documents at Fitch's Milan offices on Tuesday as the rating agency was drawn into an investigation of alleged market manipulation already involving its two bigger rivals Standard & Poor's and Moody's .

Europe's debt crisis could tip the world economy into recession and a bigger firewall is urgently needed to keep the damage from spreading, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

The European Commission will follow EU antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia's advice to block the merger of Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext next week, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Verizon Communications may miss analyst expectations for 2012 earnings after posting disappointing fourth quarter results as it was hurt by hefty subsidies for the Apple Inc iPhone.

Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc is leading a $12 million round of funding into a start-up company that analyzes tweets and Facebook posts as people watch their favorite TV programs.

The Federal Reserve is expected to break new ground this week by providing a clearer window into official thinking on monetary policy and is expected to signal that interest rates will be held near zero into 2014.

The Federal Reserve is expected to break new ground this week by providing a clearer window into official thinking on monetary policy and is expected to signal that interest rates will be held near zero into 2014.

Fred Thompson, a 2008 presidential candidate, endorsed Newt Gingrich for the 2012 GOP nomination on Monday, two days after Gingrich's stunning upset over Mitt Romney in the South Carolina primary.

Insider Thorsten Heins, the new chief executive at BlackBerry maker RIM, is a surprise choice for those looking for a transformational leader from outside to turn around the Canadian group's fortunes.

Engineers inspecting Airbus A380 aircraft for cracks on a part inside the wings have found similar flaws on at least one aircraft, industry sources said on Tuesday.

Stocks dipped on Tuesday as talks to resolve Greece's debt crisis hit a snag and some lackluster earnings put the S&P 500 index's five-day string of gains in jeopardy.

The company struggles to make a profit from subscribers moving online for content, and is still recovering from its ill-fated plan to split its online streaming and DVD-by-mail service.

McDonald's Corp's strong December sales and fourth-quarter earnings failed to allay fears that exchange rates and increased spending will weaken profits in 2012.

Total sales of mobile handsets in Russia rose an estimated 16 percent last year and returned to volume levels not seen since an economic crisis struck in 2008, the country's top mobile phone operator MTS said on Tuesday.

Stocks dipped on Tuesday as talks to resolve Greece's debt crisis faltered and after some lackluster earnings reports, threatening a five-day winning streak.

The Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to end with a signal that interest rates will be held near zero into 2014.

Engineers inspecting Airbus A380 aircraft for further wings cracks have found similar flaws on at least one aircraft, industry sources said on Tuesday.

The euro zone debt crisis is escalating and dragging down the world economy, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, as it sharply cut its outlook for global growth and called for policies to restore confidence.

Morgan Stanley announced the promotion of 210 employees to managing director on Tuesday, a smaller lot than the previous year as the Wall Street bank's overall workforce shrank.

The euro zone debt crisis is escalating and could derail the global economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday as it called for urgent action to restore confidence.

What do Nobel Prize-winning development economist Amartya Sen and IMF chief Christine Lagarde have in common? They both oppose the prevailing orthodoxy that all heavily indebted governments must cut their way back to prosperity as soon as they can.

Normally, signs warn drivers to slow down for SCHOOL X-ING. But on one street on the Lower East Side, they are warned about SHCOOL X-ING. The embarrassing typo has gone unfixed since last summer.

The euro zone is inching closer to breaking its long-held taboo against a Greek default, but can still escape financial market mayhem and a body blow to the euro.

About one in five workers around the globe, particularly employees in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, telecommute frequently and nearly 10 percent work from home every day, according to a new Ipsos/Reuters poll.

Rick Santorum would urge his daughter not to get an abortion if she were raped, the Republican presidential candidate has told CNN's Piers Morgan.

McDonald's Corp reported stronger-than-expected December sales, but its shares fell on investor concerns that quarterly profit may have beat expectations only because of income that was not related to its operations.

The new leader at Research In Motion on Monday dismissed talk of drastic change at the BlackBerry maker, a declaration seized on by impatient investors who say Thorsten Heins has only 12 to 18 months to turn RIM around.

DuPont's quarterly revenue missed Wall Street expectations as a sharp drop in demand, especially for solar and electronic materials, offset higher prices.