IBT Staff Reporter

Sweden is tweeting to the world, and this week she is Hanna, just your average lesbian truck driver.

The Bank of Canada held its key policy rate at 1 percent on Tuesday, but forecast a faster Canadian recovery than expected despite an increasingly worrying outlook for the global economy.

Russian internet company Mail.ru has launched its answer to U.S. microblogging site Twitter, seeking to expand its business into social instant messaging and emulate the success of China's Weibo.

Spain took in its stride the first test of investor appetite for its debt since a two-notch credit ratings downgrade, selling short-term paper ahead of a far trickier hurdle later this week, when it tries to place longer-dated bonds.

Citigroup Inc's fourth-quarter profit fell 11 percent and missed Wall Street estimates as the European debt crisis battered capital markets, hurting trading revenue and discouraging clients from doing deals.

Political resistance is clashing with financial imperatives as the euro zone tries to strengthen its capacity to rescue debt-stricken member states after Europe's temporary bailout fund lost its top-notch credit rating.

Stocks rose on Tuesday as improved sentiment about growth prospects in China overshadowed recent credit downgrades in Europe and a mixed bag of big bank earnings.

Stocks rose on Tuesday as improved sentiment about growth prospects in China overshadowed recent credit downgrades in Europe and a mixed bag of big bank earnings.

Germany's exit from nuclear power could cost the country as much as 1.7 trillion euros ($2.15 trillion) by 2030, or two thirds of the country's GDP in 2011, according to Siemens , which built all of Germany's 17 nuclear plants.

The Justice Department has stepped up its investigation of Standard & Poor's mortgage bond ratings during the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Wells Fargo & Co beat Wall Street estimates with a 20 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, boosted by improving credit quality and continued loan growth.

A gauge of manufacturing in New York State showed growth picked up in January, rising to the highest level in nine months as new orders and employment improved, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Tuesday.

Citigroup Inc reported lower fourth-quarter profit while Wells Fargo & Co. said profit rose. Both big banks said their quarters were helped by declining bad loan costs.

A gauge of manufacturing in New York State showed growth picked up in January, rising to the highest level in nine months as new orders and employment improved, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Tuesday.

Aerospace group EADS batted away concerns over the financing needed to maintain a record wave of jet deliveries this year, as bumper orders from its Airbus unit and a major Japanese leasing deal provided fresh evidence of Asia's rising economic power.

Rick Perry has come under fire for his remark at Monday's South Carolina debate that Turkey is run by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists.

Shares of cruise operator Carnival Corp. plunged 15 percent on Tuesday after a ship operated by its unit struck a submerged rock and keeled over off the coast of Italy late on Friday.

Stocks gained in early trading on Tuesday as Chinese data fueled the belief the government may move to stimulate growth, overshadowing recent credit downgrades in Europe and a mixed bag of big bank earnings.

China's economy expanded at its weakest pace in 2-1/2 years in the latest quarter, with the sagging real estate and export sectors heralding a sharper slowdown in coming months and fresh pro-growth measures from the government.

Stocks were set to open higher on Tuesday as Chinese data fueled the belief the government may move to stimulate growth, overshadowing recent credit downgrades in Europe and a mixed bag of bank earnings.

Siemens <SIEGn.DE> expects Germany's exit from nuclear power to cost the country up to 1.7 trillion euros ($2.15 trillion) by 2030, the head of its energy business said.

Citigroup Inc fourth-quarter profit fell 11 percent and missed Wall Street estimates as the European debt crisis battered capital markets trading and discouraged clients from doing deals.

Samsung Electronics Co plans to merge its own 'bada' mobile phone operating software with an open-source Tizen platform as the world's biggest smartphone maker seeks alternatives to Google's Android in its devices.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday as investors looked to corporate profits as earnings season picks up and Chinese data fueled the belief the government may move to stimulate growth.

Consumer prices in the Eurozone fell more than previously expected in December, the start of a retreat from a November peak that should give the European Central Bank more room to cut interest rates as the economy heads for recession.

ZTE Corp, the world's No.4 handset maker, said it sees China and the United States as key drivers for its fast-growing smartphone market as it shifts away from low-end feature phones in a bid to boost profit margins.

LONDON, Jan 17 - The downgrade of much of Europe's credit ratings demonstrates in perhaps the bluntest terms so far the collapse of any lingering -- if lazy -- assumptions that developed states are somehow safer than emerging counterparts.

LONDON, Jan 17 - The downgrade of much of Europe's credit ratings demonstrates in perhaps the bluntest terms so far the collapse of any lingering -- if lazy -- assumptions that developed states are somehow safer than emerging counterparts.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday as investors looked to corporate profits as earnings season picks up and Chinese data fueled the belief the government may move to stimulate growth.