IBT Staff Reporter

The United States and European Union agreed Tuesday to reduce red tape related to cargo security and pledged to work toward tearing down tariffs and regulatory barriers between the world's largest trading partners.

An appeals court on Tuesday struck down a 2009 New York City law imposing a tax on hotel-booking websites such as Expedia Inc and Priceline.com Inc , the latest legal development in a battle playing out in cities across the country.

Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve's influential vice chair, said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank has room to ease monetary policy further, possibly by providing more information on the path of interest rates.

HTC Corp <2498.TW>, the world's No. 5 smartphone maker, does not infringe patented technology owned by FlashPoint Technology in making its smartphones with digital cameras, the International Trade Commission said on Tuesday.

OmniVision Technologies Inc gave a third-quarter outlook below market estimates, hurt by a cutback in orders for sensors used in smartphones, sending its shares down 12 percent in extended trade.

Facebook will be required to get user consent for certain changes to privacy settings as part of a settlement of federal charges that it deceived consumers and forced them to share more personal information than they intended.

The French bank Societe Generale SA on Tuesday said its TCW Group unit, one of the largest U.S. asset managers, is not for sale, rejecting a published report to the contrary.

Standard & Poor's reduced its credit ratings on 15 big banking companies, mostly in the Europe and the United States, on Tuesday as the result of a sweeping overhaul of its ratings criteria.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said on Tuesday it has won overwhelming support for its reorganization plan, including from creditors with $400 billion of claims, an important step toward ending its record bankruptcy.

A full pension plan default by bankrupt American Airlines would be the largest in U.S. history if it occurred today with those accounts running $10 billion short of what the carrier owes its workers over many years, government pension insurers estimated on Tuesday.

While President Barack Obama's 43 percent job-approval rating on the poll results Gallup released Tuesday shows an improvement over the 40 percent score he got a few weeks earlier, his shot at winning re-election looks uncertain considering that at this point in his term, even presidential pariah Jimmy Carter did better.

Stand-up comedian Patrice O'Neal died on Tuesday from complications of a stroke at age of 41.

After ending 72 days of marriage with out-of-work NBA basketball player Kris Humphries at the end of October, Kim Kardashian is reaching the conclusion that she might have to give up her fairy tale romance dream.

Sirius XM Radio Inc CEO Mel Karmazin admits that he doesn't like playing second fiddle, which could pose a problem in 2012 if Liberty Media Corp increases its stake in the satellite radio operator.

Euro zone finance ministers and officials met in Brussels on Tuesday to agree on leveraging their EFSF bailout fund so it can help Italy or Spain should they need aid.

Communications regulators released a staff report criticizing AT&T Inc's $39 billion plan to purchase T-Mobile USA, even though they agreed on Tuesday to let the companies withdraw their request for approval.

Italy has had preliminary discussions with the International Monetary Fund about financial support to cope with the euro zone's debt crisis, possibly co-funded by national European central banks, but no decision has been taken, several sources close to the situation said.

OmniVision Technologies Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by its CameraCube acquisition, but forecast the third quarter below estimates.

American Airlines passengers should not expect any near-term changes after the airline filed for bankruptcy, but the filing may affect their future plans.

After a strong Black Friday showing, Nintendo now has to focus on maintaining the momentum for its products over the next five weeks of the crucial holiday season, the company's U.S. president told the Reuters Global Media Summit on Tuesday.

American Airlines bankruptcy won't hurt flyers... now

An embattled U.S. labor board was set to move forward with a proposed regulation that could make it easier for unions to organize, despite renewed political pressure from Congress to back down.

The Dow and S&P 500 advanced for a second day on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected consumer confidence data and hopes for further progress on a solution to Europe's fiscal mess bolstered sentiment.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said on Tuesday that 98.7 percent of creditors representing more than $405 billion in claims had voted to back its reorganization plan, an important step towards ending its bankruptcy.

An American Airlines pension plan default in bankruptcy would be the largest in U.S. history as its accounts are underfunded by $10 billion, government pension insurers estimated on Tuesday.

In a speech at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday, Rick Perry seemed to mix up the voting and drinking ages -- not to mention the date of the coming election. It was a slip of the tongue, not a substantive gaffe -- nobody really thinks Perry doesn't know the voting age -- but it was one of many YouTube-worthy moments of the Republican primary race.

Whipsawing markets continue to baffle supposedly savvy hedge fund managers, who are hobbling again this month after registering a short-lived revival in October.

Judge Jed Rakoff's blunt rejection of a major Citigroup Inc securities fraud settlement could resonate with other judges who share the public's frustration with Wall Street and its regulators.

Google Maps has been helping people find the nearest train station or Starbucks for several years. Now, it can help you find the nearest restroom at an airport or the men's department at Macy's.