IBT Staff Reporter

France threw its weight behind Chad's President Idriss Deby on Tuesday, saying it could intervene against armed rebels who declared they would only stop fighting if Deby quit.

The death toll from Kenya's post-election bloodletting has risen to 1,000, the Red Cross said on Tuesday, as political rivals began the toughest part of their negotiations so far. Fighting in west Kenya in recent days between rival ethnic gangs had increased the number of deaths, the Red Cross said.

Voters in 24 states make their choices in an unpredictable U.S. presidential campaign on Tuesday, with Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in a close fight and Republican John McCain aiming for a knockout blow against Mitt Romney.

According to a study by KPMG, the level of fraud in the UK has reached its highest point in 12 years, costing the country over £1 billion every year.

Yahoo Inc. said on Monday it will stop operating its online music service Yahoo Music and divert its customers to Rhapsody music service, which is run by RealNetworks Inc and Viacom Inc, in a deal that will allow Yahoo to promote Rhapsody on its site.

Long-term treasuries fell on Monday as investors shifted investment to riskier investments amid a flood of new notes this week and a reassessment of the U.S. economy.

News Corp said net profit in its fiscal second quarter ended December 31 rose to $832 million, or 27 cents per share, from $822 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier.

Copper rose on Monday after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit Chile, the owner of the largest producer of copper in the world.

Platinum soared to a record high of $1,800 an ounce for the first time Monday as investors bet that a power shortage in top producing South Africa will tighten global supply for the precious metal. Gold traded 4 percent it record from last week.

U.S. stocks finished lower on Monday following last week's big rally, as investors trimmed positions caused by troubled financial sectors which suffered from several broker downgrades.

The dollar rose against the yen but slipped versus the euro on Monday ahead of several interest rate decisions from several central banks this week.

Natural gas posted gains on Monday after the prices of alternative forms of energy increased.

U.S. Corn and Soybeans futures increased following an increase in demand for the grain in overseas nations, driven by the declining shipping costs.

Preliminary viewer results from the Super Bowl game on Sunday, showed that viewership was up 9 percent from last year's game, according to Nielsen Media Research on Monday.

U.S. Crude Oil Gains on Houston Channel Trouble Oil rose on Monday after weather conditions closed the Houston Ship Channel and fears of a U.S. recession continued.

New orders at U.S. factories reported a fourth consecutive increase in December, though it was the steepest gain since July, hinting that business spending on new equipment is growing, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Olivant Advisers Ltd has dropped out of the the race to take control of ailing British bank Northern Rock plc.

Thousands of civilians fled Chad's capital N'Djamena on Monday after rebels broke off a two-day assault but threatened a fresh attempt to topple President Idriss Deby.

The New York Giants achieved one of the biggest upsets in NFL history with a 17-14 victory over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Yahoo Inc would consider a business alliance with Google Inc as one way to rebuff a $44.6 billion takeover proposal by Microsoft, a source familiar with Yahoo's strategy said on Sunday. Yahoo management may revisit talks it held with Google several months ago as an alternative to Microsoft's bid.

Billionaire Richard Branson, banker Luqman Arnold and an in-house management team are set to pitch formal offers for Britain's Northern Rock Plc on Monday, the government's deadline for bids. Branson has said his Virgin Group VA.UL will make an offer for the troubled bank ahead of the February 4 deadline, while Arnold's investment group Olivant and the in-house team have also said they will bid.

Internet phone company Vonage Holding Corp. (NYSE:VG) has substantially completed workarounds in its Internet based telephone systems to begin moving away from technology that violated patents.

Tens of thousands of agricultural workers and their union representatives gathered at Mexico City's downtown plaza, the Zocalo, on Thursday to complain about the agriculture provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Portable music players such as the iPod won't cause electronic interference in implanted heart pacemakers, a new study claims.

Google launched a new application programming interface (API)on Friday that is designed to help developers make use of social networking relationship data.

Massachusetts filed a civil complaint on Friday against brokerage Merrill Lynch and two brokers once employed at the firm, accusing the firm of fraud and misrepresentation when it sold complex securities its sold were unsuitable for the city that quickly became illiquid and lost most of their market value.

Sunday's Super Bowl game will have fans glued to their screens with only quick breaks to check updates online, according to a pre-game survey by ComScore.

U.S. stocks markets closed out the week on an up note on Friday, ending Wall Street's best performing week in nearly five years, after Microsoft Corp's $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo Inc pushing technology stocks ahead of other sectors.

The dollar shrugged off a dismal labor report in early Friday trading – slipping initially following the release, but rallying sharply after traders digested the news. The greenback fell just shy of a fresh all-time low against the euro at