IBT Staff Reporter

The world's largest mining group is considering a bid to rival a $28.7 billion offer for the aluminum giant.

General Electric Co.'s energy unit will pay $603 million for a stake in Regency Energy Partners LP, an owner of natural gas pipelines and storage equipment.

Citigroup flagged its interest in buying a bank in Germany on Tuesday but played down recent talk that it was about to swoop on Commerzbank.

Expedia Inc. said on Tuesday that it would spend as much as $3.5 billion to buy back more than a third of the online travel company's shares at a premium of at least 8 percent to Monday's closing price.

Globaliz ation is good, but people are earning less of the wealth generated by economic growth and integration as the decades go by, the OECD said on Tuesday.

The euro lost momentum on Tuesday after hitting a lifetime peak against the low-yielding Japanese yen, with sentiment hurt after a surprising fall in a measure of German investor confidence.

Literally, it might be known as Voustube, Voitubo or Vocetubo, but the world's most popular video-sharing site introduced local-language sites in nine countries on Tuesday that will all just go by YouTube.

Nissan Motor Co. announced on Monday that it will spend £2.4 million ($4.8 million) to ramp up production capacity for its Qashqai crossover sport-utility vehicles at its Sunderland plant in the U.K.

U.S. stocks edged higher on Tuesday as a dip in Treasury bond yields tempered investors' interest-rate worries and boosted financial stocks. Shares General Electric Co., the second largest U.S. company rose more than 3 percent.

Gold was little changed on Tuesday but stayed within sight of a one-week high hit the previous day, while Tokyo futures shrugged off a weak yen and dropped on profit taking.

U.S. phone company Verizon Communications Inc. said it plans to offer high-definition video on demand over its advanced Internet and video service called FiOS, although it has not yet set a date.

Cadbury Schweppes Plc, the world's largest confectionery group, plans to cut 7,500 jobs and close around ten plants as it seeks to catch up with the profitability of U.S. rivals after the sale of its drinks arm.

Yahoo Inc. on Monday tapped co-founder Jerry Yang to replace Chief Executive Terry Semel, bowing to investor pressure as the Internet media company has failed to keep up with rival Google Inc.

Stocks were little changed on Monday as lingering worries about the subprime mortgage market offset optimism about corporate takeovers.

Airbus racked up a series of big orders at the opening Monday of the world's biggest air show, stealing some early limelight from U.S. rival Boeing Co.

Italian airline Alitalia's shares on Monday fell to a 2007 low on worries its sale by Rome may collapse after one of the two final bidders, Russia's Aeroflot, expressed concern about the price tag.

After cranking out U.S. trading card hits such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, both of which have cooled in popularity among grade-schoolers in recent years, 4Kids Entertainment Inc.'s chief executive Al Kahn has been looking for the next big thing.

Lehman Brothers's lagging stock price offers the chance to buy into a rising power as it seeks to join the company of larger investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, Barron's reported in its June 18 edition.

Documentarian Michael Moore expects drug and insurance companies to oppose his latest film.

Microsoft Corp. launched a redesigned MSN portal optimized for mobile phones on Sunday, stepping up its offering at a time when more powerful devices increase the demand for richer content on handsets.

Asian stocks rose to record highs on Monday on growing optimism about the U.S. economy, but diminished expectations for an imminent Japanese interest rate rise pushed the yen to an all-time low versus the euro.

China Mobile, the world's largest cellular phone operator, is planning a multibillion-dollar share sale in Shanghai as early as next month to attract domestic investors, sources familiar with the situation said on Monday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy won a solid parliamentary majority for political and economic reforms on Monday but voters soured the right's celebrations by not giving a forecast landslide and rejecting a top minister.

The 47th Paris air show opens on Monday with France-based planemaker Airbus expected to announce major deals from Middle East-based airlines as it seeks to make up ground on sales by U.S. rival Boeing Co.

Apple Inc.'s iPhone may be too expensive for most Americans, but the much-hyped device is expected to help AT&T Inc. win quality customers and drive shoppers into its stores.

UBS cut its earnings forecasts and share target prices for South Korean chip makers Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor Inc., citing bigger-than-expected price declines for DRAM memory chips.

Microsoft Corp. has agreed to pay 94 million yuan ($12.3 million) for a stake in Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. and will form a cooperative alliance with the TV and electrical appliance maker, the Chinese company said on Monday.

General Electric Co. and Pearson Plc may challenge News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co., with a plan that could let Dow Jones's controlling Bancroft family keep an interest in the company, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal reported on their Web sites on Sunday.

London-based private-equity firm BC Partners was in the lead to purchase satellite operator Intelsat Ltd. for about $5 billion plus the assumption of about $11.5 billion in debt, The Wall Street Journal Online reported.