IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. auto parts maker Lear Corp , which has been weighed down by heavy debts and a sharp decline in automobile demand, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday.

The U.S. office market vacancy rate reached 15.9 percent in the second quarter, its highest in four years and rent fell by the largest amount in more than seven as demand from companies and other office renters remained weak, real estate research firm Reis said Inc.

The U.S. Justice Department has begun looking at big telecom companies such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications to try to determine if they have abused their market power, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Monday.

California suffered a new setback in its financial crisis on Monday when Fitch Ratings cut its rating on the state's general obligation debt to just two notches above junk status.

A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc computer programmer accused of stealing secret trading codes from the financial firm has been released from federal custody after posting bail, authorities said Monday.

Asian stocks edged up slightly on Tuesday but struggled after a slide the previous day, while the yen held gains against higher-yielding currencies as investors doubt the speed of the global economy's recovery.

Oil edged up above $64 a barrel on Tuesday, after four consecutive days of falls on worries about the economy that have brought the stock market rally to a halt and pushed the dollar higher.

Dell Inc., the world's second-largest PC maker, will devote more resources to the small-and medium-sized business (SMB) market in China as it considers the segment will be the first to climb out of the recession, said a senior company executive.

Nokia and Singaporean mobile service provider MobileOne (M1) have entered into a contract to offer the Nokia Messaging service.

The U.S. Justice Department has begun looking at big telecom companies such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications to try to determine if they have abused their market power, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Monday.

The family of Michael Jackson has announced the performers who will participate in the public memorial service to be held at the Staples Center on Tuesday, July 7.

The U.N. Security Council on Monday condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches as a violation of council resolutions and a threat to regional and international security.

Sunday's deadly riot in China shocked the world as blood tainted Urumqi, with at least 156 lives lost and more than 800 others injured, barely 16 months after the nightmarish Lhasa.

Ryanair is seeking to cut costs and also to make flights cheaper to its passengers by offering them an option of taking a standing flight and paying a lower price for the ticket.

U.S. air traffic fell in June as the tough economy continues to hit airlines hard, according to figures released by carriers today.

President Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev on Monday agreed a target of cutting vast Cold War arsenals of deployed nuclear warheads by around a third from current levels to 1,500-1,675 each.

Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara died on Monday aged 93. He will be remembered most as the leading architect of America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

Egypt's state-owned Misr Insurance may launch an initial public offering of its life unit by July 2010, if conditions permit, but the state would keep a majority interest, the Insurance Holding Company chairman said on Monday.

A restructured General Motors Corp will get the remaining $20 billion in government bankruptcy financing over the rest of this year and could be ready to launch an initial public stock offering in early 2010, a senior U.S. official said on Monday.

Mortgages Warning, Unfriendly Skies, New GM near reality

Great Lakes Hydro Income Fund will pay C$945 million ($815 million) for its biggest shareholder's Canadian power operations in a deal aimed at positioning itself for a conversion into a corporation by 2011, it said on Monday.

U.S. tax authorities have discovered far fewer than the 52,000 accounts with Swiss bank UBS AG suspected of being used by Americans to avoid taxes, the U.S. government said in a court filing on Monday.

An international food safety body has set rules to cut levels of cancer-causing chemicals and bacteria in foodstuffs ranging from French fries to baby food, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said on Monday.

Discover Financial Services said on Monday it will offer $500 million of common stock and use the proceeds to help repay $1.2 billion the credit card issuer received in government bailout funds.

Bank of America Corp has promoted two senior mergers and acquisitions bankers as it reorganizes following its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co and looks to benefit from a possible pickup in deal flow.

Facebook will likely be posting billions of dollars in revenue in five years, up from about $500 million this year, according to Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mark Andreessen who sits on Facebook's board.

Less profitable skies as airlines report dropping June traffic, Judge approves sale to New GM, Rio Tinto sells food packaging division for $1.2 billion

Standard & Poor's on Monday boosted its expectations for losses on risky loans backing U.S. mortgage securities to as much as 40 percent, suggesting a darkened outlook for the troubled housing market.

Japan's Nomura Holdings plans to launch a global prime brokerage business by September as the financial crisis has created room for new players to serve hedge funds, a senior executive said on Monday.