IBT Staff Reporter

David Letterman apologized on Monday for making a sexually charged joke about one of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's teenage daughters, as a group of Palin supporters planned a rally demanding the late-night TV show host be fired.

Software maker Medidata Solutions Inc has rescheduled its initial public offering until next week, one of the deal's underwriters said Monday, setting the stage for the busiest week for IPOs since April 2008.

A Chinese waitress who killed a government official when he assaulted her was set free on Tuesday, ending a case that sparked online debate over widespread abuse of power.

Mexico's top building company ICA said on Monday it could sell up to 150 million shares in Mexico and the United States to finance projects in infrastructure and housing.

Railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc said it intends to halt operations at its unit Huron Central Railway Inc due to the economic downturn.

The Boston Globe and a key union held marathon talks over employee concessions on Monday and will reconvene on Tuesday, raising the possibility of a new outcome to a bitter labor dispute at the 137-year-old daily newspaper.

Iranians planned more protests on Tuesday against a presidential election they say was rigged but the focus of their anger, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left the country to attend an international meeting.

The new commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan plans an immediate review of operations to ensure his troops are focused on safeguarding key population centers, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Investment bank Nomura Holdings and insurer T&D Holdings are among the firms in the second round of bidding for Citigroup's asset management arm in Japan in a deal likely to exceed $1 billion, five sources familiar with the matter said.

President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak are expected to show a united front against North Korea when they meet on Tuesday, but they may not make much progress on free trade pact that has been stalled for two years.

Oil fell for a third day toward $70 a barrel on Tuesday as a firm dollar and stock market declines pulled prices further from eight-month highs.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday defied mass protests against his re-election by visiting Russia for a summit.

Iranian state television said on Tuesday seven people had been killed near the site of a rally in Tehran. Iran's English-language Press TV carried a breaking news headline citing radio as saying Seven people killed near illegal Tehran rally.

federal appeals court on Monday ordered Exxon Mobil Corp to pay $507.5 million in punitive damages stemming from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, plus 5.9 percent interest running from the 1996 trial judgment, the opinion said.

China's economy will not experience a rapid recovery because it will take time to find a new growth engine to replace sagging exports, an influential economist said in remarks published on Monday.

The U.S. government will seek to toughen rest requirements for airline pilots with fatigue an issue in the crash of a commuter flight near Buffalo, New York, in February that killed 50 people.

President Barack Obama said on Monday he was deeply troubled by post-election violence in Iran and urged the Islamic republic to investigate voting irregularities in a way that would not result in bloodshed.

The head of the IMF warned on Monday it was too soon to discuss rolling back stimulus spending, saying the world economy had yet to weather the worst of a recession that has hammered industrial output and claimed a record number of European jobs.

Two weeks before the sentencing of Bernard Madoff for his $65 billion swindle, the judge who will decide his fate has received more than 100 angry letters from defrauded investors suggesting his punishment.

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos on Monday defended the high price of the company's new widescreen Kindle DX e-book reader.

South Africa financial and law enforcement agencies are investigating a suspected corporate fraud case, worth up to $1.2 billion, the Financial Intelligence Center, tax authorities and Reserve Bank said in a joint statement on Sunday.

Deltek Inc on Monday said it has releases its Cobra 5.0, the cost engine for Earned Value Management solutions for government and businesses.

Hisense Group, one of China's top TV and appliance makers, is issuing 150 million shares, aiming to raise about RMB 1.5 billion($219 million).

Mexico now is embarking on a comprehensive strategy to cut emissions and reduce energy use while also potentially putting the Mexico economy on a low carbon growth path.

Shares of Nokia on Monday fell after it unveiled its new Smartphone E72, along with its new 5530 XpressMusic and 3710 fold, as it vies to competes against Apple’s iPhone and Palm’s Pre.

U.S. western states got the support from key Obama Administration officials on Monday to speed up the development of a solid renewable energy system in the region, at the Western Governors Association annual meeting at Park City, Utah today.

A Pennsylvania Court upheld a previous ruling on Monday that a local store cannot sell beer for takeout only because doing so would not be allowed under its retailer license.

The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il secretly visited ally China around last week as a special envoy of his father and met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japan's Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The world's biggest emerging market powers will seek to craft a united front on repairing the global financial system when they meet for the first formal BRIC summit on Tuesday.