IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. trade gap widened much more than expected in May as a jump in oil prices helped push imports to the second highest level on record and exports fell slightly from April's record high, a U.S. government report showed on Tuesday.

Reports claim that Liverpool are ready to table an improved bid of around £18.5 million for Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing, while Doni is close to completing his move to Anfield.

China said on Tuesday its crackdown on pirated goods has made great strides, a claim borne out by government statistics but not necessarily by a trip to one of Beijing's many shops where pirated software, movies and clothes are readily available.

European Union finance ministers met on Tuesday to discuss the debt situation in Greece, as well as financial issues facing the wider EU.

Kate Middleton is beginning to gain attention for something other than her yellow dress, brown locks, or fashion-icon status. Her thin waist line is beginning to take notice, sparking rumors that the Duchess is anorexic, or on the verge of being so.

Wall Street stocks fell on Tuesday, led lower by Nasdaq, as the euro zone's continuing debt crisis kept nervous investors on edge.

Amazon.com Inc has taken the first step toward asking California voters to repeal a new law requiring websites that forward shoppers to it to collect sales tax, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney general said on Monday.

The first Facebook phone will hit the US July 17.

NEW YORK - Small and medium-sized companies are increasingly glum about the chances of a pickup in growth in the U.S. economy over the next year, a survey published on Tuesday showed.

Networking equipment company Cisco Systems Inc could eliminate as many as 10,000 jobs, or about 14 percent of its workforce, to revive profit growth, Bloomberg said, citing two people familiar with the matter.

When William and Kate visited Skid Row in California, the Duchess of Cambridge did a little doodle that might one day be worth a lot of money.

Emma Watson made an appearance on Monday's Late Show with David Letterman before heading off to the NYC premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. The talk show host presses Watson on her drinking history.

Confidence among U.S. business owners slipped last month amid expectations of weak sales and a deterioration in business conditions over the next six months, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The 'first of its kind' deal was negotiated by the U.N.-led Medicines Patent Pool, a partnership that raises money for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, for California-based drugmaker, Gilead Sciences Inc., to allow four of its AIDS drugs to be made by generic drug companies.

Emma Watson's Bottega Veneta dress at the Harry Potter premiere in New York.

Wall Street was headed for a third day of losses on Tuesday as the euro zone crisis rattled investors, although their fears seemed to dissipate through the morning as stock index futures came off their lows.

Gold prices have soared to record highs this year on concerns over the euro zone debt crisis, and the metal could be set for another leg higher if the world's biggest economy, the United States, also starts to struggle with its debt repayments.

Atleast 12 people were killed and 60 injured on Monday after a depot containing seized Iranian arms exploded at Cyprus main naval base damaging the island’s biggest power station.

Apple's fear of Android phones has reached a new high as it filed a patent infringement complaint against Taiwanese phone maker HTC with the International Trade Commission (ITC). Here is list of new and old HTC Android phones which can give iPhone 5 a run for its money.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has said they are looking to sign one more attacker, with Carlos Tevez linked with the Spanish giants, although Chelsea defender Alex could also make the move to Santiago Bernabeu.

European banks were battered by mounting fears Greece is heading for a disorderly default and the debt crisis could spread to Italy, sending shares skidding more than 3 percent Tuesday to a two-year low.

The News Corp scandal and the main protagonists deserve a film

Wall Street was headed for a third day of losses on Tuesday as fears of a systemic crisis in the euro zone grew, sending index futures sharply lower.

Argentina bagged their first win in the Copa America on Monday with a deserved 3-0 win over Costa Rica to secure their place in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Retailers have cash on their balance sheets and nearly half of 100 top retail executives said they are planning to spend it on technology, a survey said on Tuesday.

Gilead Sciences, the leading maker of HIV drugs, is to share intellectual property rights on its medicines in a patent pool designed to make treatments more widely available to the poor.

Google’s new networking site Google+ has brought along with it the debate of survival chances of the social networking giant Facebook.

Apple Inc's chief patent counsel will soon leave the company, at a time when the company is fighting numerous legal battles around the world, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Stock index futures pointed to a sharp fall in share prices on Tuesday after equities on Wall Street recorded their biggest fall in about a month in the previous session as concerns grew that the euro zone debt crisis could engulf other countries.