IBT Staff Reporter

Oil prices rose toward $72 a barrel on Tuesday as investors bought commodities to hedge against a weaker dollar, and the U.S. government forecast an increase in world oil demand.

Microsoft Corp introduced new software for mobile phones on Tuesday, promising a range of devices to compete with Apple Inc's iPhone and Research in Motion Ltd's BlackBerry.

Stocks rose sharply on Tuesday after Australia became the first G20 country to raise rates since the onset of the financial crisis, and on optimism for a strong U.S. earnings season.

Big oil producing nations denied a British newspaper report on Tuesday that Gulf Arab states were in secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies in trading oil.

Verizon Wireless said on Tuesday it will develop and sell mobile phones and services using Google Inc's Android operating system software.

Boeing Co, its reputation tarnished by the troubled 787 Dreamliner program, said on Tuesday it would delay the first flight and delivery of its 747-8 Freighter and take a $1 billion charge because of high production costs and tough market conditions.

Marshall & Ilsley Corp, Wisconsin's largest bank, forecast a wider-than-expected quarterly loss due to charges related to loans made to other banks, but said its credit quality was improving.

Boeing Co , its reputation tarnished by the troubled 787 Dreamliner program, said on Tuesday it would delay the first flight and delivery of its 747-8 Freighter and take a $1 billion charge because of high production costs and tough market conditions.

Turkish police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse hundreds of people protesting against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank during their annual meetings in Istanbul Tuesday.

Iran plans to use a new generation of faster centrifuges to enrich uranium at a newly-revealed nuclear site, its atomic energy chief said in remarks published on Tuesday.

Oil prices rose above $71 per barrel on Tuesday as the dollar slipped against major currencies and after a U.S. government agency raised its forecast of world oil demand for the fourth quarter.

A pioneer in fiber optics and two scientists who figured out how to turn light into electronic signals -- work that paved the way for the Internet age -- were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for physics on Tuesday.

European Union countries are split over plans to introduce an EU-wide carbon tax on fuel, which could be proposed early next year.

U.S. retailers probably saw sales decline again in September, signaling weak demand leading into the holiday season that will require chains to sharpen their focus on value.

Swiss authorities on Tuesday rejected an appeal by lawyers for Roman Polanski, who was arrested in September after fleeing America in 1978 from an underage sex charge, to release the film director from prison.

U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, should fall 5.9 percent in 2009 as the recession cuts electricity and transportation fuel demand, the government said in a monthly forecast on Tuesday.

Gold surged to a record high above $1,040 per ounce on Tuesday, with buying fueled by dollar weakness after a report, later denied, that Gulf Arab states were considering abandoning the U.S. currency for oil trade.

Home theaters are passe. Home offices are in.

About two hours and a little less than halfway through my first Cantonese opera, I looked surreptitiously around me. My long Texan legs were cramped into a tiny plush seat near the side of

President Barack Obama will not meet the Dalai Lama during his five-day trip to the U.S. capital beginning on Monday, the first time in 18 years the exiled Tibetan leader has visited Washington without seeing the president.

Democratic hopes for a quick Senate Finance Committee vote on a broad U.S. healthcare overhaul were dashed on Monday as budget experts took longer than expected with their estimate of the bill's cost.

A senior U.S. Treasury Department official said on Tuesday that if Iran fails to demonstrate that it is not seeking nuclear weapons it may face sweeping sanctions from the rest of the world.

Leading Mexican retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico is expected to post a strong 15 percent rise in third-quarter profits as it uses promotions aimed at shoppers with little money to spend trying to beat the recession.

Health workers doused the Indonesian city of Padang with disinfectant to ward off disease outbreaks and helicopters dropped aid to survivors six days after a devastating earthquake

Cisco Systems Inc's overture for Norway's Tandberg puts U.S.-based Polycom Inc in play as it is the only public company now left in the video conferencing market.

The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Tuesday.

Rescue workers with boats and helicopters struggled on Tuesday to deliver rations to about 5 million victims of flooding triggered by torrential rains in southern India.

Pepsi Bottling Group Inc reported slightly-better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, but revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates, hurt by lower volume in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Playboy Enterprises Inc on Tuesday named an 11-year veteran of the adult entertainment company and magazine publisher as president, a new position that will oversee all of its businesses.