IBT Staff Reporter

China will delay a controversial plan to force manufacturers to bundle Internet filtering software with new personal computers sold in the country, in an abrupt retreat announced hours before the policy was due to start.

U.S. consumer confidence fell in June after two straight months of gains.

Prices of U.S. single-family homes fell in April from March but the pace of the decline moderated, suggesting stability is emerging in some regions, according to Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes released on Tuesday.

Standing by your man suddenly seems to be going out of fashion for some American women in the public eye.

China will delay a controversial policy to force manufacturers to install mandatory filtering software on all new computers, state news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday.

General Motors Corp is heading to bankruptcy court on Tuesday to seek approval to sell its assets to a New GM in a plan to reinvigorate the automaker under U.S. government ownership.

Swedish software company Global Gaming Factory X AB said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy free file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, and that it would find ways to compensate copyright owners for downloaded material.

Japan pledged to shore up Elpida Memory Inc with public money, bringing the total aid expected to come to the loss-making chip maker to $1.7 billion as it struggles to compete with its larger South Korean rivals.

U.S. stock futures were modestly higher on Tuesday ahead of a new round of data that may give investors insight into the state of the recession-hit economy on the last day of the second quarter.

Michael Jackson's mother Katherine on Monday won temporary guardianship of the late singer's children and control of his estate as a legal battle over his kids, money and belongings began to take shape.

The private funeral for actress Farrah Fawcett is taking place at the Catholic cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday.

What do Johnny Depp, Garfield, Paris Hilton and roast pork have in common? In China, the answer is that a new government-mandated Internet filter rates some pictures of all four of them as bad for your moral health.

Efforts to save two leading European carmakers took a twist on Tuesday that could change the ownership of both crisis-hit General Motors Corp's Opel and German sportscar maker Porsche .

Iraq auctioned contracts to run eight giant oil and gas fields Tuesday as it sought to take charge of its own reconstruction after six years of war, but oil companies were reluctant to pay what it asked.

U.S. stock futures were flat on Tuesday ahead of a batch of new data that may give investors insight into the state of the recession-hit economy on the last day of the second quarter.

British authorities have frozen $100 million linked to Texas billionaire and alleged swindler Allen Stanford following a request from the United States Department of Justice.

Oil prices gave away early gains on Tuesday, easing toward $71 a barrel ahead of U.S. inventory data expected to show a rise in oil product stocks.

If plug-in hybrid vehicles proliferate as expected, utilities will be able to handle the added power demand without building new plants or straining transmission power grids as long as owners plug in overnight, the New York grid manager said in a report issued on Monday.

The renewable energy mandate in the climate change bill approved by the House of Representatives last week does not go far enough for green power proponents, but the proposed national standard is likely as strong as it will get.

The United States joined the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on Monday as part of the Obama administration's commitment to developing a new energy policy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

The world's airlines lost more than $3 billion in the first quarter of 2009, the International Air Transport Association said on Tuesday, maintaining its estimate for full-year losses of $9 billion.

Stock futures pointed to a higher start on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P up 0.4 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.1 percent at 5 a.m. EDT.

The MSCI world equity index looked set on Tuesday for its best quarterly gain since its 1988 launch and oil was on course for its strongest quarter since 1990, as recovery talk fired up markets in the past three months.

A U.S. federal jury returned a $1.67 billion verdict against Abbott Laboratories in a patent suit brought by Johnson & Johnson related to arthritis treatments, the drug companies said on Monday.

Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel on Tuesday, paring gains after earlier jumping more than 2 percent on unprecedented Asian trading volumes.

Iraq will auction off eight giant oil and gas fields on Tuesday in its first major tender since 2003, giving oil firms a foothold in a country that may hold some of the world's largest untapped energy reserves.

Belgium-based RHJ International is close to a deal to buy a stake in Opel after talks between parent General Motors and preferred bidder Magna International hit snags, the Financial Times reported.

Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, the last day of a torrid quarter, as investors added to trades based on a rebound in economic activity, while funds slashed bets against a fall in oil prices to keep crude on track for its biggest quarterly gain in 19 years.

Japan pledged to prop up loss-making chip maker Elpida Memory Inc with up to $1.7 billion in public and private capital and loans, the country's first capital injection in a company since the financial crisis.