IBT Staff Reporter

Four Israeli settlers were shot dead in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in an attack that Islamist Palestinian group Hamas said was its first assault on Middle East peace talks due to start on Wednesday in Washington.

Ray Irani, who has been criticized for excessive pay, plans to announce his retirement date as chief executive officer of Occidental Petroleum Corp at a board meeting in October, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc has agreed to settle a private antitrust lawsuit over its exit from the online DVD market, according to court documents.

Powerful Hurricane Earl churned towards the eastern U.S. seaboard Tuesday and looked to sideswipe the densely populated coast from North Carolina to New England, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said.

Women with mutations in the well-known BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes who have their breasts and ovaries removed are much more likely to survive than women who do not get preventive surgery, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

Canada's established telecom companies must spend more than half of a C$770 million ($727 million) fund kept in escrow to expand broadband Internet to rural and remote communities and return the remainder to urban customers, the communications regulator said on Tuesday.

Tens of millions of people in low and middle income countries would be pushed below the poverty line by buying common but vital medicines which are already unaffordable to hundreds of millions more, a study has found.

Full-term babies born a bit on the early or late side are at higher risk of cerebral palsy, according to a new study in nearly 1.7 million Norwegian children.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty directed state agencies on Tuesday to decline all discretionary participation in federal healthcare reform, throwing up roadblocks to President Barack Obama's goal of providing health insurance to all Americans.

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc is trying to create a service that gives paying subscribers unlimited access to some television shows and movies over the Internet, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Saks Inc shares surged 22 percent on Tuesday after a published report that a group of private equity firms may soon launch a bid for the New York-based luxury department store operator.

Saks Inc shares surged 22 percent on Tuesday after a published report that a group of private equity firms may soon launch a bid for the New York-based luxury department store operator.

With Magna International's $1 billion buyout of founder Frank Stronach now a done deal, the auto parts maker will now shift its focus to a more aggressive expansion in emerging markets.

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg says a lawsuit by a man who claims to own a huge chunk of the popular social networking website is seeking to uncover unnecessary details about his private life to harass him.

A patent lawyer with a penchant for bow ties has won a round in a fight with Brooks Brothers over expired patent markings that has implications for dozens of similar suits across the country.

Dutch authorities detained two Yemeni men at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on suspicion of terrorist conspiracy after a tip-off from the United States, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Commerce Department decided on Tuesday not to investigate whether China subsidizes exports to the United States by undervaluing its currency, prompting renewed calls for Congress to act on the issue.

Iraq celebrated its sovereignty as the U.S. military formally ended combat operations on Tuesday, despite political deadlock and persistent violence, and warned other countries not to interfere as U.S. troops depart.

The battle for the digital books market intensified on Tuesday, as office supplies retailer Staples Inc said it would start selling Amazon.com Inc's Kindle, and bookseller Borders Group Inc said it was cutting its prices on some e-readers.

Protesters from environmental group Greenpeace boarded a drilling rig operated by UK oil explorer Cairn Energy on Monday to try to stall development of what the oil industry hopes will become a major new producing centre.

Yahoo Japan Corp and U.S. firm Google Inc are broadening the scope of their video delivery services in Japan, the Nikkei business daily reported.

China pressed regional powers on Tuesday to restart talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and Seoul offered aid to its destitute neighbour despite a new round of U.S. sanctions against Pyongyang.

Consumer confidence rose modestly in August and home prices gained more than expected in June, easing some worries the economy is headed for another downturn soon.

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday it did not have sufficient legal grounds to investigate if China's currency practices effectively subsidize its exports in separate trade cases brought by U.S. aluminum and paper producers.

Stocks ended little changed in choppy trading on Tuesday, closing out an August the bulls would like to forget.

Tribune Co's board has formed a special committee to oversee the media company's bankruptcy, which unraveled this month following an investigation into its 2007 leveraged buyout.

Iraq celebrated its sovereignty as the U.S. military formally ended combat operations on Tuesday, despite political deadlock and persistent violence, and warned other countries not to interfere as U.S. troops depart.

The top shares closed up on Tuesday, as miners gained on firmer U.S. economic data which eased investor anxiety on the global economic recovery, while ARM Holdings jumped on renewed takeover talk.

Thousands of people are putting their health and life savings at risk to travel to private clinics around the world for unproven and potentially dangerous stem cell treatments, British experts said on Tuesday.