IBT Staff Reporter

Common asthma reliever drugs taken by millions of children around the world may increase the risk of asthma attacks in some patients with a particular genetic make-up, British scientists said on Tuesday.

Sorry coffee lovers -- downing a few cups of coffee throughout the day may spark alertness, but it's unlikely to protect the aging brain from mental decline or dementia, according to researchers from Finland

Your pants size might help gauge your risk of developing certain cancers, regardless of how much you actually weigh, Dutch researchers report.

Asian shares pushed up for a second day on Wednesday, climbing back near a 13-month peak, as gold's surge to record highs and the dollar's tumble boosted resource shares.

A private equity manager who wanted to buy the Sun-Times Media Group said on Tuesday that his attempt to bid on the bankrupt newspaper publisher was blocked, and that he wants the court to reopen the sale process.

Soccer's global governing body FIFA, gaming software-maker Electronic Arts and Sony Corp's PlayStation announced the start of the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2010 (FIWC10) season on Tuesday.

AT&T Inc will open its third-generation wireless network to third-party Internet voice applications on Apple Inc's iPhone, clearing the way for services such as Skype.

The Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-5 on Tuesday evening in the twelfth inning of a tense game, clinching the American League Central title.

The U.S. may be exiting its worst recession since the Great Depression but there is still a small minority of Americans who rate the national economy as being excellent or great, according to a new survey.

Boeing Co , looking to win more business as the U.S. Defense Department seeks to bolster support to soldiers, said on Tuesday that it sees many applications for a family of advanced trailers it has developed that can be used to retrieve damaged military vehicles from hostile environments.

Yum Brands Inc , parent of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC chains, posted a quarterly profit that blew past Wall Street's target, boosted by results from China, and raised its full-year profit forecast.

Gold held below its record high in early Asian trade on Wednesday, but could be set for another spike up as the U.S. dollar continues to struggle and inflation concerns grow, analysts said.

Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens said on Tuesday he has increased his long oil and natural gas position in recent weeks.

The World Bank is pursuing an ambitious program of reform to enable the institution to become more efficient and effective, World Bank Group president Robert Zoellick said.

Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and Palm Inc stepped up efforts to bolster their smartphone line-ups, as the tech industry's key players increasingly move to challenge Apple Inc's popular iPhone.

AT&T, the biggest U.S. cellphone provider, said Tuesday that Apple iPhone users will be able to use Skype over its cellphone network, a move that will lower the cost of local and international voice calls.

Yum Brands Inc , parent of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC chains, posted a quarterly profit that blew past Wall Street's target and raised its full-year profit forecast, sending shares up 2.6 percent.

Bank of America said it will not raise rates or change terms on consumer credit card accounts ahead of reform legislation slated to go into effect early next year, according to a letter released by a lawmaker on Tuesday.

The U.S. patent office, which can take up to three years to approve a patent application, has a $200 million shortfall that may require a temporary 15 percent fee hike, its director said on Tuesday.

Private equity firm OpenGate Capital and New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman have dropped out of the bidding for McGraw-Hill Cos Inc's BusinessWeek magazine, people familiar with the matter said, leaving Bloomberg LP and ZelnickMedia to vie for the money-losing asset.

Tibet's exiled religious leader, the Dalai Lama, brushed aside by U.S. President Barack Obama in favor of communist China, was saluted at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday for his work for human rights.

A recently disrupted bombing plot represented one of the most serious security threats to the United States since the September 11 attacks, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday.

Actress Elizabeth Taylor said Tuesday she was going into a hospital for heart surgery and asked for prayers.

Google's Gmail and Yahoo's Mail were also targeted by a large-scale phishing attack, probably the same one that attacked at least 10,000 passwords from Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail, according to a report by the BBC.

The former head of New York's Liberal Party and a founding partner of Aldus Equity have pleaded guilty to taking part in a kickback scheme that corrupted how the state pension fund chose investment managers, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday.

Investors flocked to the Aussie dollar following yesterday's surprise interest rate increase by the RBA. Despite the central bank having previously provided strong rhetoric pointing to an increase from 3% most analysts had been expecting the first increase in the cycle to come later in the year. The immediate reaction to the news saw the AUD/USD jump from 0.8750 to trade around 0.8850 within an hour and headed into offshore exchange looking to add to the gains.

Horrorcore singer Richard Samuel McCroskey III - a subgenre of hip hop with lyrics and imagery horror themed- has been arrested relating a killing in Farmville, Virginia.

Allstate, the largest publicly-traded auto and home insurer, said on Tuesday that it had picked AIG executive Matthew Winter to be the chief executive of its troubled life insurance division.

Stocks rose on Tuesday amid signs the global economy was recovering and optimism that corporate earnings reports will beat expectations.