IBT Staff Reporter

People in the Iraqi city of Basra fear the U.S. troops taking over from departing British forces, whose relatively light touch contrasts with the U.S. military's fearsome, and sometimes trigger-happy, reputation.

Iran offered help in combating the Afghan drugs trade on Tuesday, in a gesture to a U.S. call for regional support in Afghanistan that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as promising.

President Barack Obama arrived in Europe on Tuesday with a hefty agenda for tackling the economic crisis and seeking support for his new Afghanistan strategy on a trip that will test his global leadership.

Global information technology spending will fare worse in 2009 than during the dotcom bubble collapse of 2001, industry research firm Gartner Inc said on Tuesday in cutting earlier projections.

PC users are bracing themselves for the latest virus, one so menacing that Microsoft has offered a reward of a quarter of a million dollars for tracking down its creator, which some experts believe will strike on Wednesday April 1st.

Internet social media company Facebook is replacing its chief financial officer and seeking a replacement with public company experience.

Procter & Gamble Co said on Tuesday that it has sold its Johnson Products Co unit, which specializes hair care products for African-Americans, to RCJP Acquisition Inc.

A clawback of British government-held shares in Lloyds Banking Group by private investors due to a share price differential could cut the amount of taxpayers' cash the bank will need, Treasury minister Paul Myners said on Tuesday.

The World Bank announced a $50 billion program on Tuesday to counter a decline in global trade and Britain called on G20 leaders to supply the oxygen of confidence to drag the world economy out of recession.

Sony Computer Entertainment America said Tuesday it will cut the price of its PlayStation 2 game system by 23 percent to $99.99 as of April 1.

General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co announced a new series of incentives covering payments if customers lose their jobs, joining rivals in offering heavy discounts to attract consumers sidelined by the recession.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads for a summit of world leaders this week having strengthened his president's hand by rolling out key pieces of a U.S. financial rescue plan.

General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will close more U.S. plants and cut more jobs and still faces a higher probability of bankruptcy to shed debt, GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said on Tuesday.

U.S. activist investors are seeking to oust board members at beleaguered banks whom they blame for helping cause the companies' financial woes, setting the stage for drama at upcoming annual shareholder meetings.

Tibet will reopen to foreign travellers on 5 April, Chinese state officials have announced to local media.

China Solar Photovoltaic SA plans another share offering this year to fund expansion, and the U.S. mainboard is a possibility, its chief operating officer said on Tuesday.

North Korea said on Tuesday it would put on trial two U.S. journalists arrested this month on its border with China, stoking tensions with Washington ahead of a planned rocket launch that has already alarmed the region.

Defaults on privately insured U.S. mortgages fell nearly 16 percent in February from the month before but were still half again higher than a year earlier.

J.P. Morgan Securities forecast global wholesale and investment banks to incur additional pretax writedowns of $17 billion for the rest of 2009 to reach mark-to-market valuations of structured credit assets.

The chief Khmer Rouge torturer formally apologized Tuesday for the deaths of more than 14,000 people at S-21 prison, the first Pol Pot cadre to accept blame for crimes committed by the regime 30 years ago.

Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is close to raising $6 billion for a new global property fund, falling short of its earlier target of $10 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the plan said on Tuesday.

A U.S. regulator has ordered Merrill Lynch & Co to pay close to $40 million after its Advest unit advised an endowment to buy a stake in a fund affiliated with the collapsed commodities broker Refco Inc.

Years of inaction dramatically raised the economic costs of the U.S. financial crisis, highlighting the need for a new approach, a top Federal Reserve policy-maker said on Tuesday.

U.S. mutual fund giant Vanguard is introducing a clutch of low-cost investment products in a move that could shake up the UK retail fund market and pension provision, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

The United States offered Taliban fighters who renounce violence in Afghanistan an honorable form of reconciliation on Tuesday as part of a revamped strategy to tackle a deepening insurgency.

Fiat's (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) chief executive has flown to Chrysler LLC's CBS.UL home town of Detroit to meet trade unions and creditors after U.S. authorities gave the carmakers 30 days to set up a partnership to save Chrysler.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads for a summit of world leaders this week having strengthened his president's hand by rolling out key pieces of a U.S. financial rescue plan.

U.S. consumer confidence rose slightly in March but remained near record lows as the economy remained weak and job prospects grew increasingly uncertain.

President Barack Obama headed to Europe on Tuesday with a hefty agenda for tackling the economic crisis and seeking support for his new Afghanistan strategy on a trip that will test his global leadership.