IBT Staff Reporter

Hormel Foods Corp posted a 53 percent jump in quarterly profit, aided by lower hog prices and stronger sales of its namesake chili, and said earnings should rise in the current fiscal year.

High-cost urban U.S. hospitals may face debt rating downgrades if large cuts to Medicare funding are implemented as part of U.S. health care reform, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

Iraq will be unable to hold a national election in January as planned, a poll official said on Tuesday, heaping more uncertainty on a vote meant to cement democracy and pave the way for a partial U.S. troop withdrawal.

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck northeast of the South Pacific island nation of Tonga on Tuesday, the United States Geological Survey said, but a destructive tsunami was not expected.

Sixteen-year-old model meets penniless future rock star almost eight years her senior and is instantly smitten, they eventually marry, have two children, and live happily ever after.

The Philippines placed two southern provinces and a city under emergency rule on Tuesday after gunmen killed 46 people in a brutal election-related massacre that has shocked the country.

Support within the administration has grown for continuing a counterinsurgency strategy with a greater focus on protecting major Afghan population centers along with agricultural areas and transportation routes.

President Barack Obama will announce his decision on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan within days after he held a final strategy session with top aides, the White House said on Tuesday.

Thailand's Eastern Water Resources said on Tuesday it expected its net profit to rise 40 percent in 2009, better than analysts' forecasts, thanks to lower costs and a price increase.

Philippine power producer Energy Development Corp said on Tuesday it has raised 12 billion pesos ($255 million) from the sale of fixed rate bonds to refinance maturing debt.

Food-loving Italy responded with indignation on Tuesday to a minister's comments that lunchbreaks -- still a sit-down ritual for many Italian workers -- are bad for waistlines and the economy, and should be skipped.

Marine engineering group Hamworthy Plc posted a 21 percent decline in first-half pretax profit, but raised its interim dividend by 5 percent and said it was confident of meeting full-year targets.

U.S. home prices rose for the fifth straight month and posted the second quarterly increase, but the pace of appreciation in September slowed and was less than expected, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller indexes on Tuesday.

Medtronic Inc said on Tuesday that quarterly earnings rose 59 percent on steady demand for its devices that protect against life-threatening heart rhythms, and it raised its fiscal-year forecast.

The Philippines may cancel a mining permit for a $2.4-billion nickel project by Norway's Intex Resources ASA if a probe shows local communities were not consulted about it, a top official said on Tuesday.

ABC television said on Monday it had received about 1,500 complaints about the sexually-charged performance by American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert at the American Music Awards on Sunday.

Heart risks from taking Merck & Co Inc's painkiller Vioxx could have been detected more than three years before the company withdrew the drug from the market in September 2004, had the data been openly available, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire founder of hedge fund firm Galleon Group, denied federal insider trading charges and accused the government of violating his constitutional rights with its use of wiretaps.

China Eastern Airlines, the country's third-most valuable airline, said on Tuesday it would complete its acquisition of Shanghai Airlines by the end of the year.

Pakistan State Oil, the country's largest fuel supplier, will import 3.5 millions tonnes of diesel from Kuwait next year, sources in PSO said on Tuesday.

An estimated 33.4 million people worldwide are infected with the AIDS virus, up from 33 million in 2007, but more people are living longer due to the availability of drugs, according to a United Nations report.

Move to Relax AIG Pay Rules;Warner Bros.'s Loss; GM's Advance in Germany

Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia-Pacific is showing early signs of a pickup and its recovery is set to outstrip the pace of supply growth, Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd said on Tuesday.

Jefferies & Co began coverage of Alpha Natural Resources Inc with a buy rating, saying the coal miner seemed well positioned to gain from the recovery in the coal markets, expected during 2010 to 2012.

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom may lose around 380 billion roubles ($13.17 billion) in 2009-2010 due to higher than expected custom duties, Vedomosti business paper reported on Tuesday.

Cases of a drug-resistant bacterial infection known as MRSA have risen by 90 percent since 1999, and they are increasingly being acquired outside hospitals, researchers reported on Tuesday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Tuesday after data showed home prices rose for the fifth straight month in September, but the growth was less than expected.

Playboy Enterprises Inc will outsource all its publishing operations except for editorial to American Media Inc in a bid to cut costs and return its namesake magazine to profitability in two years.

U.S. home prices rose for the fifth straight month and posted the second quarterly increase, but the pace of appreciation in September slowed and was less than expected, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller indexes on Tuesday.