IBT Staff Reporter

President Barack Obama's nominee Sonia Sotomayor won the backing of the Senate Judiciary committee on Tuesday, all but ensuring she will become the first Hispanic justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The European Union (EU) said on Monday it'd levy 24% anti-dumping duty on China's steel and wire rod for a period of five years.

The regulator of U.S. futures markets risks increasing volatility and distorting crucial pricing functions unless proposed measures to curb excessive market speculation are thoroughly vetted, a top commodity exchange executive said Tuesday.

Shares of clean energy firm FPL Group Inc., which reported second quarter earnings today, plunged 6.5 percent on Tuesday after the company said it now expects adjusted 2009 earnings at the lower half of its range of $4.20 to $4.40 a share on a continued weak economy and poor wind resource.

U.S. consumer confidence fell more than expected in July, the Conference Board said on Tuesday, recording its second consecutive decline as sentiment remained hampered by a difficult job market.

Leaked rumor reports from the Chinese Apple Daily suggest Apple is set to launch the Apple media tablet - aka the Apple Media Pad - in September, with analysts and traders agreeing. This media tablet will accomplish three things without cannibalizing the Macs:

Consumer confidence drops, US home prices rising, Bank of America to cut branches

Frustrated by your spouse's spending habits?

Global investor confidence rose for a seventh month in a row in July, hitting the highest level in a year, U.S. financial services firm State Street said on Tuesday.

Nepal, under increasing pressure from China, was cracking down on Tibetan refugees despite centuries of shared culture with Tibet, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said on Tuesday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may face a vote of confidence in parliament under the resignation of his minister of Culture.

General Electric Co said on Tuesday most of its finance portfolio was performing as it had expected, and it does not anticipate having to raise additional capital to carry it through the current downturn.

Bank of America Corp said it plans to shrink its 6,109-branch U.S. network modestly over the next three to five years, an about-face for the nation's largest bank by assets after years of expansion.

Chinese border police have seized 70 kg (154 lb) of the strategic metal vanadium bound for North Korea, a local newspaper said on Tuesday, foiling an attempt to smuggle a material used to make missile parts.

Leaked rumor reports from the Chinese Apple Daily suggest Apple is set to launch the Apple media tablet - aka the Apple Media Pad - in September, with analysts and traders agreeing.

A verdict in the trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will come on Friday, a court official said, after her lawyers wrapped up their final arguments in the widely condemned case against her on security charges.

The largest U.S. bank on Tuesday said it plans to reduce the size of its U.S. branch network over the next three to five years. As of June 30, the Charlotte based bank had 6,109 branches, down 30 from December's number of 6,139.

Pakistani security forces fighting Taliban militants in and around the Swat Valley have rescued nearly a dozen boys brainwashed into becoming suicide bombers, according to officials.

Oil giant BP Plc reported Tuesday its net replacement cost profit declined 53 percent in the second quarter totaling $2.92 billion, but it surpassed analysts' forecast of $2.81 billion, according to Reuters. The decline was due to lower crude and gas prices and weaker refining margins.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the closure of the Kahrizak detention center where detainees are believed to have been held since Iran's disputed presidential election.

U.S. home prices rose in May for the first time in three years, suggesting the housing market is stabilizing, but a weakening job market hit consumer confidence in July and could prevent near-term economic recovery.

Tiny ovarian tumors lurk in the Fallopian tubes for an average of four years before they grow large enough to be detected, researchers reported on Monday in a study that explains why diagnosis usually comes too late to save a woman's life.

U.S. and Chinese officials began grappling on Monday with how and when to withdraw the huge economic stimulus spending each has applied and to put in place measures to promote steadier long-term growth.

A large 15-year study of men who had surgery for prostate cancer found only a small percentage died from cancer, adding to evidence that some men might be able to skip radical surgery to treat the often slow-growing tumors, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

British forces remaining in Iraq will withdraw to Kuwait by the end of the month after Iraq's parliament adjourned this week without passing a deal allowing them to stay to help protect oil facilities.

A common and safe blue food dye might provide the best treatment available so far for spinal cord injuries, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said during a visit to Iraq on Tuesday that the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban bases was paying off as Iraqi forces assumed the lead for the fragile security.

Health officials trying to make best use of antiviral drugs to fight the new H1N1 flu need to do a better job of tracking and treating cases quickly, Italian researchers said on Monday.

Viacom Inc reported a 32 percent drop in earnings, but tempered yet another quarter of depressed results with the announcement that it has reached a key distribution deal for its new movie channel Epix.