IBT Staff Reporter

Tweeters are being invited to submit questions for the spirits of departed celebrities including Michael Jackson and William Shakespeare as part of the world's first Twitter seance.

U.S. consumer confidence fell to lower-than-expected levels in October, amid growing concerns that job market conditions will worsen in the near term, according to a report released on Tuesday.

Billionaire investors Carl Icahn said on Tuesday he will offer smaller holders of CIT Group's debt short term protection against the value of the debt declining, if investors back his alternative restructuring of the beleaguered lender.

Japan's Honda Motor Co exuded optimism while Germany's Daimler AG spread gloom about the outlook for car markets on Tuesday, highlighting the patchy nature of any post-crisis rebound.

The foreign ministers of Russia, China and India said on Tuesday that the world must remain engaged in Afghanistan, with Moscow seeking a greater role for regional powers in stabilising the war-torn country.

The European Union agreed on Tuesday to impose an arms embargo on Guinea over the killing of anti-government protesters and said it would restrict the travel and freeze the assets of individuals involved.

Google Inc has introduced a new feature that will allow consumers to use its Google Voice service without switching to a special phone number, potentially broadening the appeal of the nascent, and controversial, service.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, following a bumpy market open, after data showed consumer confidence fell in October.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. President Barack Obama he would not run for re-election unless Israel dropped its refusal to freeze settlements, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday.

Renault's falling sales in India and Russia and tension with its partners underline the risks of car sector tie-ups and suggest that the infusion of technology, rather than cash, is the solution.

Two people have been executed in China for their involvement in deadly riots in Tibet last year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, the first officially confirmed to have been carried out.

U.S. home prices rose for the fourth straight month in August and shoppers spent more last week, providing evidence consumer demand could be stabilizing.

U.S. Steel Corp , which has been operating at less than half capacity since the economic downturn last year, posted its third consecutive quarterly loss on Tuesday on weak demand.

Iran will accept the framework of a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal, but will demand some important changes, al Alam state television reported on Tuesday.

A run-off vote in Afghanistan's presidential election must take place even if President Hamid Karzai's challenger quits the race, Karzai's camp said on Tuesday.

An al Qaeda-linked group has said it carried out the twin suicide bombings that killed 155 people in Baghdad on Sunday and revived doubts about security in the run-up to Iraq's elections in January.

Norwegian solar energy company Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) said it expected overcapacity and price declines in the solar industry to continue into 2010 after missing third-quarter forecasts.

Nokia Oyj and SAP said on Tuesday they would establish a new company providing brand owners technological services to fight multi-billion dollar counterfeit and pirate products business.

Democrats in the Senate are trying to make progress on a climate change bill to give a boost to an international global warming summit in Copenhagen in December.

Australia needs to adopt a national policy to combat rising sea levels, which may see people forced to abandon coastal homes and banned from building beachside homes, said a parliamentary climate change committee.

Bruce Springsteen canceled a performance in Kansas City on Monday after the death of his cousin who was the assistant road manager of the E Street Band.

Asian stocks fall on commodity price decline, Hong Kong's property curbs.

British renewable energy company SeaEnergy said on Tuesday it will build offshore windfarm projects in Taiwan with the Taiwan Generations Corporation, an energy project development company.

Wall Street was set for a modestly lower open on Tuesday as worries the market's seven-month rally was reaching an end offset data showing U.S. home price rose more than expected.

Refiner Thai Oil said on Tuesday its 275,000 barrel-per-day refinery should continue to run at full capacity in 2010 because it can use some products to feed its petrochemical plant.

Actress Scarlett Johansson will make her Broadway debut starring in a revival of American playwright Arthur Miller's drama A View from the Bridge, the show's organizers said on Monday.

Valero Energy Corp reported a deeper-than-expected quarterly loss on Tuesday as weak fuel demand in the slow economy weighed on results for the largest U.S. refiner.

BP Plc beat third-quarter earnings forecasts by a big margin in a sign Chief Executive Tony Hayward's restructuring plans were delivering results, with cost cuts ahead of targets and oil and gas output up strongly.

S&P 500 index futures moved higher on Tuesday after a report showed U.S. home prices rose in August for the fourth-straight month, surpassing forecasts.