IBT Staff Reporter

In spite of the economic recession, an Aspen home owner became the first to sell the most expensive home in the U.S. for the year.

The biggest U.S. pension fund has sued the top three ratings agencies in a complaint linked to big losses linked to complex investments.

Iranian rescue teams are searching for the black boxes where an Iranian airliner en route to neighboring Armenia crashed shortly after takeoff killing all 168 passengers on board.

Last summer Charity Challenge was approached by Gary Barlow about staging a Kilimanjaro climb for Comic Relief. By December we were working almost seven days a week on planning the event.

A Tupolev passenger aircraft crashed in northwestern Iran on Wednesday and up to 168 people on board were killed, Iranian media reported.

Oil rose above $60 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by data showing a fall in U.S. crude oil inventories and after strong company earnings lifted expectations for economic recovery.

General Motors unveiled plans on Wednesday to spend about $1 billion in Brazil through 2012 to develop a new family of vehicles for South America, a priority market for the U.S. automaker as it looks to rebound from bankruptcy protection.

A plane crash in northwestern Iran on Wednesday involved the Tupolev Tu-154 airliner, a Russian-built workhorse which went into service in 1972.

Former General Motors Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, ousted in March by the Obama administration, will retire in August with a package worth $8.6 million in the first five years, the company said on Tuesday.

General Motors unveiled plans on Wednesday to spend 2 billion reais ($1.02 billion) in Brazil through 2012 to develop a new family of vehicles for the South American market.

Stocks rose sharply on Wednesday as Intel Corp's solid quarterly results and outlook reinforced hopes for an economic recovery and a rebound in technology spending.

Some of the biggest U.S. investors and two former top securities regulators warned that a tarnished Federal Reserve should not be put in charge of preventing systemic risk in the financial system, a central plank of the administration's response to the credit crisis.

As all farmers worth their salt will tell you, green shoots do not guarantee a harvest.

U.S. mortgage applications rose for a second straight week, driven by a jump in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates tumbled, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

A July 10 lender bulletin from Freddie Mac says appraisers

Capital One Financial Corp's U.S. credit card defaults rose in June as unemployment increased and Americans struggled to pay their debts, the company said on Wednesday.

Sports car maker Porsche SE aims to use a capital increase and the sale of a stake to Qatar to cut its net debt that has ballooned to more than 10 billion euros ($14.05 billion), two sources close to Porsche told Reuters on Wednesday.

The world's richest economies will grow again before year-end as the choke-hold of the worst recession in generations gradually eases, but Reuters polls of economists show widespread doubt about the recovery's strength.

U.S. investment fund Lone Star's planned takeover of failed Japanese real estate investment trust (REIT) New City Residence Investment Corp was blocked by creditors on Wednesday.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned China on Wednesday it had significant economic interests at stake in detaining an Australian mining executive on spying charges and the world was watching how it handled the case.

Sports car maker Porsche SE aims to use a capital increase and the sale of a stake to Qatar to cut its net debt that has ballooned to more than 10 billion euros ($14.05 billion), two sources close to Porsche told Reuters on Wednesday.

Abbott Laboratories Inc's second-quarter earnings fell 2.6 percent, with generic competition for its Depakote anti-seizure drug overshadowing strong sales of its Humira arthritis drug and its Xience heart stent.

U.S. government officials are weighing a plan that would let borrowers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments avoid eviction by renting their homes instead, sources familiar with the administration's thinking said on Tuesday.

Chen Tonghai, a former chairman of China's second-biggest oil refiner Sinopec Corp, was given today a two-year reprive from a death sentence for accepting millions of dollars in bribes, Reuters reported.

China is on course to hit its 8.0 percent growth target this year and become the first major economy to pull decisively out of the global slump, according to a Reuters poll.

President Dmitry Medvedev will defend a Russia-backed deal to buy German car maker Opel and seek more support for the Nord Stream gas pipeline project when he visits Munich on Thursday, a top Kremlin aide said.

Top diplomats from India and Pakistan have begun talks to reduce tensions between the two states in a meeting on the fringes of a gathering in Egypt, sources close to the talks said.

A dramatic warming of the planet 55 million years ago cannot be solely explained by a surge in carbon dioxide levels, a study shows, highlighting gaps in scientists' understanding of impacts from rapid climate change.

Chaos deepened on Wednesday in Japan's ruling party ahead of an expected August 30 election, as lawmakers fearing a crushing defeat persisted with efforts to ditch unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso.