IBT Staff Reporter

Barclays completed the sale of its asset management arm to U.S. fund manager BlackRock on Tuesday for $15.2 billion, or $1.7 billion more than when it struck the deal in June after a jump in BlackRock's share price.

Heliocentris Fuel Cells, a German expert for clean energy storage, sees higher sales next year as it hopes to benefit from support programmes around the world, its chief financial officer told Reuters.

Stocks gained on Tuesday as a weak dollar lifted commodity prices and home sales data reassured investors about the state of the housing market, considered one of the biggest drags on a recovery.

A group of U.S. senators urged President Barack Obama Monday to back legislation requiring the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a long list of other trade pacts they blame for millions of lost U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Chinese solar company Trina Solar Ltd said on Tuesday it entered into a sales agreement to supply approximately 8 megawatts of photovoltaic (PV) modules to the Chinese domestic market.

U.S. House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer said the chamber will vote this week to permanently extend the estate tax rates scheduled to expire at the end of 2009.

President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said on Monday that tackling high U.S. unemployment was vital but the problem would take time to fix.

The U.S. Senate began work on a sweeping healthcare overhaul on Monday, with senators on both sides pouncing on findings in a nonpartisan budget report on insurance premiums to bolster their arguments.

The couple who drew international attention by getting into a White House dinner without an invitation denied on Tuesday that they gate-crashed the high-security gala.

The world has emitted extra greenhouse gases this century equivalent to the annual totals of China and the United States above a maximum for avoiding the worst of climate change, a study estimated Tuesday.

Russia's Human Stem Cell Institute will raise around 140 million roubles ($4.80 million) at its upcoming IPO after avgreeing to sell shares at the lower end of its price range, the company said on Tuesday.

Tata Motors Ltd vehicle sales for November.

Israeli inspectors trying to enforce a government moratorium on new building starts in Jewish settlements ran into defiance Tuesday at an enclave in the occupied West Bank.

U.S. construction spending was flat overall in October at $910.8 billion despite the biggest surge in homebuilding in more than a decade, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday in a report that sharply revised the prior month's data.

British exhibition and conference organiser ITE Group Plc posted a rise in full-year profit, helped by cost controls and positive currency movement, and increased its dividend.

Poland's top refiner PKN Orlen confirmed on Tuesday that the country's leading mobile operator Polkomtel would pay out a preliminary dividend of 464 million zlotys for the first three quarters of 2009.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as data reassured investors about the state of the housing market, considered one of the biggest drags on a recovery, while a weak dollar boosted commodity prices.

Russia's envoy to NATO expressed frustration on Tuesday at the military alliance's unwillingness to discuss Moscow's proposals for European security and said it could affect prospects for increased cooperation on Afghanistan.

Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose unexpectedly to their highest level in 3-1/2 years in October, a survey showed on Tuesday, suggesting the housing market recovery was gaining steam.

China's top police officer has warned that the nation's security forces are struggling keep pace with an increasingly assertive society, and he demanded defter quelling of protests and stricter oversight of the Internet.

France's Vivendi said on Tuesday it has until February to exercise a right to buy about 12 percent of Brazilian telecoms company GVT, seeking to dispel regulatory scrutiny in the South American nation about the transaction.

Swine flu continues to wane across the United States, but it has killed more than 30 children since the last count, U.S. health officials said on Monday.

South Africa, with the world's highest HIV caseload, will roll out life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs to significantly more people infected with the virus from next year, President Jacob Zuma said on

Staples Inc reported third-quarter results that topped analyst estimates and forecast higher sales in the current quarter as trends improve at its North American retail business.

People who smoke skunk -- a potent form of cannabis -- are almost seven times more likely to develop psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia than those who smoke hash or cannabis resin, according to research.

The second storey of this nondescript building in Fuyang city in China's central province of Anhui houses HIV-positive orphans, but unlike many other similar establishments, there are no signboards outside.

Bailed-out insurer AIG said on Tuesday it had closed a pact with the New York Federal Reserve that slashes its debt under a credit facility by more than half, to $17 billion.

The guns are gradually falling silent in Iraq as a fragile stability takes hold, turning the spotlight on a stealthier killer likely to stalk Iraqis for years to come.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as data reassured investors about the state of the housing market, considered one of the biggest drags on a recovery, while a weak dollar boosted commodity prices.