IBT Staff Reporter

As the Tour de France approached the Alps, Cadel Evans was in the perfect position to win the entire race, since he only needed to keep up with his rivals on the mountains and then put in a good time trial performance which he was capable of doing.

Two days after same-sex marriage became legal in New York, the state's attorney general has taken legal action challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. law which defines marriage as between a man and woman.

The names of jurors in the Casey Anthony murder trial will remain secret until at least October 25 to allow those enraged by her acquittal to "compose and restrain themselves," according to the judge's order on Tuesday.

Cable company Comcast Corp is teaming up with its NBC Universal unit to help programmers dynamically place commercials around on-demand TV shows in a bid to drive new advertising revenue.

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc, reported a narrower-than-expected loss and raised its second-quarter earnings forecast, as it sold more copies of the puzzle game Portal 2 than expected and pocketed more money on digital games.

Triple Tour de France champion Alberto Contador's Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing over a failed dope test, due to start on August 1, has been postponed until at least November, the Swiss court said on Tuesday.

The North American brokerage arm of UBS AG said on Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings benefited from higher fee and interest income, and that contrary to ongoing chatter, the unit is not for sale.

The United States will lose its top-notch AAA credit rating from at least one major rating agency, according to a Reuters poll that also found wrangling over the debt ceiling has already damaged the economy.

Facebook has made it easier for users to opt out of its controversial facial-recognition technology for photographs, an effort to address concerns that it had violated consumers' privacy.

Amazon.com Inc reported a dip in earnings but its revenue forecast raced past Wall Street's expectations, propelling its shares higher in after-hours trade.

Amazon.com Inc reported a surge in quarterly revenue and said revenue for the current quarter would be better than expected, sending its shares up more than 6 percent.

Amazon.com Inc reported a surge in quarterly revenue on sales of its kindle electronic reader and other electronics and forecast far better-than-expected revenue for the current quarter, sending its shares up more than 6 percent.

Astronomers found a reservoir of water measuring 140 trillion times the earth's ocean water in space. The reservoir of water is the most distant ever discovered in the universe, said two teams of researchers.

Amazon reported a fall in profit, but a surge in sales on Tuesday. The surge was mainly attributed to strong sales of Kindle e-reader, subsidized by advertising.

A downgrade of the United States' AAA credit rating is a bigger risk than a default and could over time add up to 0.7 percentage point to bond yields, members of a U.S. securities industry group said on Tuesday.

The largest Internet retailer benefited from growth in e-commerce, though margins continued to be pressured by heavy spending on distribution, technology and digital content.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Monday a bill allowing illegal immigrants to receive privately funded scholarships to attend the state's public colleges and universities.

Many of the world's leading steelmakers warn that profits in the second half of this year will be hurt because of the slow economic recovery, along with lower steel prices and higher raw material costs.

Executives from rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service are scheduled to testify on Wednesday on attempts to reform the credit rating industry and the role it is playing in the U.S. debt ceiling debate.

Prices for new single family homes rose to a five-month high in June even as sales slipped, but recovery for the broader housing market continues to be frustrated by an oversupply of properties.

The stalemate in debt talks dragged down stocks for a second day on Tuesday, and light volume showed investors remained reluctant to make bets despite another round of healthy earnings.

A Delaware court is likely to rule by Friday on whether Dynegy Inc's proposed debt restructuring should be put hold, according to a Dynegy spokesman.

Germany's SAP AG expects to reach the high end of its 2011 forecasts after a strong second quarter, confounding fears of a slowdown in economically fragile Europe and lifting its shares.

Health advocates say the fast food chain still has a ways to go.

Norwegian police confirmed Saturday morning that they had arrested Anders Behring Breivik, 32, a suspect identified as right wing Christian fundamentalist who is responsible for both the bombing and the youth camp shooting rampage in Oslo, Norway Friday.

A slideshow which shows the human face of an inhuman tragedy.

Utoeya Island survivors have criticized the police for failing to respond to the attack by Breivik sooner.

Is Nina Dobrev Dating 'Vampire Diaries' co-star Ian Somerhalder?

The ex-husband of actress Sandra Bullock has called off his wedding to new girlfriend, tattoo artist and reality TV star Kat Von D.