IBT Staff Reporter

Oil giant BP Plc said it had increased its cost reduction targets for 2009 by 50 percent to $3 billion, as it reported a halving in second quarter profits due to lower oil prices and weaker refining margins.

China has banned websites featuring or publicizing online games which glamorize mafia gangs, saying violators will be severely punished, state media reported on Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank AG's second-quarter net profit rose 68 percent to 1.092 billion euros ($1.56 billion), boosted by its investment banking arm, but loan provisions rose sharply as economic slowdown took its toll.

World stocks extended gains to fresh 9-month peaks on Tuesday while the dollar fell to a 2009 low after upbeat U.S. data and optimism over corporate earnings prompted investors to add risky assets.

Asian stocks hit a 10-month high for a seventh day on Tuesday as investors were lifted by improving corporate earnings, though the non-stop pace of the rally caused some to wonder if it was overdone.

Asian stocks hit a 10-month high for a seventh day on Tuesday as investors were lifted by improving corporate earnings, though the non-stop pace of the rally caused some to wonder if it was overdone.

China Unicom , one of China's top three mobile carriers, has reached a preliminary agreement with Apple for the exclusive sale of its iPhone handset in China for three years, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday, however a China Unicom official said a formal deal had not been reached.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is planning to issue a report next month that suggests that wild swings in oil prices were significantly driven by speculators, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.

Japan's Canon Inc posted a 72 percent fall in quarterly profit, hit by sluggish demand for office copiers, but nudged its full-year forecast higher on a firmer than expected yen and more aggressive cost cuts.

Putnam Investments plans to cut fees on some mutual funds, not wanting pricing to hinder growth, the Wall Street Journal said, citing an interview with the company's head of global marketing Jeffrey Carney.

The Honduran Congress on Monday avoided a vote on whether ousted President Manuel Zelaya can return to power after a coup last month, saying it was a matter for the Supreme Court to decide.

The New York Federal Reserve on Monday named Japan's Nomura Securities International as a U.S. primary dealer of Treasury securities, effective immediately.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to meet the president of Somalia's transitional government during a seven-nation trip to Africa next week, the State Department said on Monday.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives pounced on a congressional budget analysis to bolster their plan for a government-run health insurance option on Monday, as party leaders said they were closer to agreement on healthcare reform.

Oil giant BP Plc reported a 53 percent drop in second quarter net replacement cost profit to $3.14 billion on Tuesday, due to a halving in crude and gas prices and weaker refining margins.

Lawyers for Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Tuesday prepared to counter claims by the prosecution that she breached the country's security laws.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report released on Monday that he backs the idea of alternative solutions to accommodate Iraq's request to reduce its war reparation payments to Kuwait.

Japan's opposition Democratic Party would speak its mind to close ally the United States if it wins an election next month, but would not seek to negate prior agreements across the board, the party's No.2 executive said.

A vocal group of conspiracy theorists known as birthers are riling the White House with their persistent claim that Barack Obama is not an American citizen and therefore ineligible to be president.

Time Warner Inc paid $283 million for Google Inc's 5 percent stake in AOL, the Internet company said in a U.S. regulatory filing on Monday.

Trading company Sumitomo Corp entered the U.S. wind power market with its acquisition of a 42.5 percent interest in a Texas wind farm, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Time Warner Inc paid $283 million for Google Inc's 5 percent stake in AOL, the Internet company said in a U.S. regulatory filing on Monday.

Apple is working with four major music labels to boost album sales online, according to the Financial Times.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone Group PLC, asked a U.S. court for a judgment that its advertising claims to be America's Most Reliable 3G Network were truthful, which rival AT&T called misleading on Monday.

Singer Joe Jonas, 19, of the “Jonas Brothers and actress Camilla Belle, 22 have officially split, People Magazine reported on Monday.

Over 20 models of hybrid vehicles - including passenger cars and trucks - are eligible for purchase under the federal rebate program cash-for-clunkers which kicked off Monday to boost sales of vehicles in the strained U.S. auto industry.

Time Warner Inc's Internet unit, AOL, filed a registration statement with U.S. regulators on Monday ahead of AOL's long-expected separation from its parent.

Housing looks up, Obama's China clean energy push, Trading under pressure

Visa Inc , the world's largest credit card network, announced a management reorganization on Monday that includes the departure of its president, even as it said performance is meeting or exceeds its forecast.