IBT Staff Reporter

Shell, Europe's biggest oil and gas company, is likely to face long delays in bringing a $17 billion gas deal with Iraq into operation as it tackles infrastructure, export constraints and sufficient access to gas from oilfields run by industry rivals.

In her most dramatic role yet Titanic actress Kate Winslet , helped carry Sir Richard Branson's 90-year-old mother to safety when a fire broke out at the British business magnate's multimillion pound luxury Caribbean retreat.

World stocks, the euro and commodity prices advanced on Tuesday after gauges of Chinese and German manufacturing activity were not as weak as some had feared.

World stocks, the euro and commodity prices advanced on Tuesday after gauges of Chinese and German manufacturing activity were not as weak as some had feared.

Australian brewer Foster's Group sought to put pressure on SABMiller to up its $10 billion hostile takeover offer, unveiling on Tuesday a A$500 million ($521 million) capital return even as profits slid.

Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal and now with Miramax Films, Facebook has announced the largest streaming movie venture yet, making 20 of its movies available on demand.

Swiss bank UBS AG plans to slash around 3,500 jobs, almost half of them from its investment bank, as it seeks to shave some 2 billion Swiss francs from annual costs by the end of 2013.

Spot gold soared to an all-time high above $1,910 on Tuesday, scoring a record top for a fourth consecutive session, as persistent worries about global economic growth burnished bullion's safe-haven appeal.

European shares were set to follow Asian gains on Tuesday after a survey of Chinese factory output soothed fears of a hard landing for the world's No.2 economy, but gold hit a record on persistent concerns about the health of the developed world.

Two former Marsh & McLennan Cos. executives, who had insurance-fraud charges against them dropped, sued former NY governor, Eliot Spitzer, with two multimillion dollar libel lawsuits over a column Spitzer wrote in Slate magazine.

U.S. computer security software maker McAfee said the number of malware targeted at Android devices jumped 76 percent since last quarter, making Android the most attacked mobile operating system.

Four leading Republican presidential candidates have pulled even with President Barack Obama in a new poll, signaling a close race in 2012.

China's factory sector is likely to slow slightly for a second consecutive month in August as sluggish overseas demand saps new orders, HSBC's China Flash PMI indicated Tuesday.

A clinical Manchester United proved too strong for Tottenham as they romped to a 3-0 win at Old Trafford to go level on points with neighbours Man City after two games.

A group of 35 Michael Jackson fan clubs have joined forces to lobby for the cancellation of a Michael Jackson tribute concert, saying the October event is doomed to fail.

Miranda Lambert's fourth solo album is due in October, and, if experience is any guide, it'll be a strong contender for the year's best country album. Suddenly, though, she's facing some strong competition for that title from … herself.

The Academy's often controversial and always interesting foreign-language race is picking up a little steam, with Romania, Morocco and Venezuela submitting their entries to join Greece and Poland this year.

A convicted murderer who escaped from a California prison camp over three decades ago has been recaptured thanks to a clue gleaned from his dying mother, authorities said on Monday.

Fast Five director Justin Lin has signed a two-year production agreement with the Universal Pictures, the studio and Lin's Barnstorm Pictures announced on Monday.

Channing Tatum may soon be bumping and grinding for a genuine Hollywood princess.

Celebrated lyricist Jerry Leiber, who partnered with composer Mike Stoller to write such iconic hits as Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock and played a key role in the birth of rock 'n' roll, died on Monday at age 78.

The Sunset Junction Music Festival & Street Fair, an annual Los Angeles event that has grown to be one of the city's biggest and best-known music festivals, is in jeopardy after the L.A. Board of Public Works voted to deny festival organizers the permits they need to stage this weekend's festival.

Vice President Joe Biden said on Monday China's leaders did not seek reassurances about the weak U.S. economy, and he called Xi Jinping -- the man expected to take over as China's next president -- pragmatic and strong.

U.S. songwriter Nickolas Ashford, who penned such rhythm and blues hits as Ain't No Mountain High Enough and I'm Every Woman with his wife Valerie Simpson, died on Monday at age 70.

England swept to a series whitewash over India in the fourth test at the Oval on Monday after Sachin Tendulkar had been dismissed nine runs short of a 100th international century.

Anti-graft activist Anna Hazare's hunger strike entered its seventh day on Monday with opposition parties calling for nationwide rallies this week, prompting the government of Premier Manmohan Singh to take tentative steps to open talks.

Deutsche Bank AG knew in 2006 that a mortgage company it was preparing to buy lied to the U.S. government about its mortgages, yet went ahead with the purchase and should be held financially responsible, the Justice Department said on Monday.

Toyota and Ford will work together to develop hybrid trucks and SUVs that will be ready for market by the end of the decade, the two automakers said Monday.

The Federal Reserve will take action if the economy weakens substantially and deflation reappears, a senior Fed official said in an interview with Japan's Nikkei business daily published on Tuesday.