Stocks rose modestly on Tuesday in Asia, with technology stocks nosing ahead, while the dollar held its ground before a Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The Alta Velocidad Española, or AVE, has made train travel in Spain the way to go, both environmentally and in comfort and convenience.

Fuel costs declined and investors grew nervous that lawmakers were moving closer to restricting speculative trading.

Janet L. Yellen, a possible new Fed governor, has shown signs of being a hawk on avoiding inflation and asset bubbles.

AP - Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday as investors held back ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest assessment of the world's largest economy.

AP - Oil prices extended losses below $80 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as investors eyed meetings of the U.S. central bank and OPEC for trading catalysts.

AFP - Venezuela will from May begin selling 80,000 barrels of oil a day to Belarus, President Hugo Chavez said after meeting his Belarussian counterpart.

Mining firm Rio Tinto says China's demand for iron ore, copper and coal will increase dramatically during the next 15 years.

Petrol prices in the UK could hit a record high of £1.20 a litre in the next few weeks, according the AA.

The estate of Michael Jackson agrees a deal worth $200m (£160m) with the record label Sony, US reports say.

More than half a million UK pensioners living overseas will find if they have won an appeal against freezing of their pensions.

AP - Britain, Europe's center for investment funds, is set to lose a clash with France on new, tougher EU rules for the hedge fund industry that finance ministers will haggle over on Tuesday.

AFP - China on Tuesday dismissed calls from US lawmakers for Beijing to be labelled a currency manipulator, saying the value of the yuan was not to blame for global trade imbalances.

Reuters - There is a consensus among OPEC members to keep output unchanged, and no change is expected at Wednesday's meeting in Vienna, Kuwait's oil minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah said on Tuesday.

Royal Dutch Shell says it will shed a further1,000 jobs by the end of next year as part of its cost cutting programme.

US regulators have unveiled the nation's first plan to give every American super-fast broadband by 2020.

The UK is still the world's largest export market for Champagne despite a fall in sales, industry figures say.

What would a European Monetary Fund look like?

The worst winter in decades has cost the UK's small and medium-sized companies about £7.3bn, a study says.

More than half a million UK pensioners living overseas will find if they have won an appeal against freezing of their pensions.

AP - Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday as investors held back ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest assessment of the world's largest economy. European stocks gained in early trade.

AP - Deutsche Bank AG says it made net income of euro5 billion ($6.9 billion) in 2009 and that it expects the banking market to progress slowly toward 'a new form of normality' this year and next.

AP - European countries' pledge to help Greece with loans received a lukewarm welcome from markets on Tuesday as investors remained worried that the form and timing of the aid remains unclear.

AFP - Motorists are bracing for record petrol costs after the AA said Tuesday that prices could hit £1.20 a litre within the next few weeks.

The move by finance ministers to delay a vote on new rules for hedge funds was a reprieve for Britain, which fears that too-tight regulation could drive the industry from London.

More than half a million UK pensioners living overseas will continue to have their pensions frozen after a court decision.

European finance ministers delay plans to vote on a new regulation of hedge funds and venture capitalists.

New car sales in Europe rose by 3.2% in February from a year earlier, but fell 30% in Germany as its scrappage scheme ended.

The vice-president of Kraft Foods is being questioned by MPs over his company's takeover of Cadbury.

The abolition of cheques will push elderly people back into hoarding cash at home, campaigners tell MPs.

Banks may make it easier for customers to opt out of using unauthorised overdrafts and paying fees.

AP - European stock markets rose Tuesday after the 16 countries that share the euro agreed to help Greece with loans, if needed, and a German investor sentiment survey fell less than expected.

AP - OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia has set the tone for this week's meeting of the 12-nation production group with an unusually clear statement — expect no change; we are content with prices and supply.

AP - British union leaders and lawmakers lashed out at Kraft Inc. Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld for failing to appear before an inquiry on the U.S. company's takeover of British confectioner Cadbury on Tuesday.

AP - Renault SA shares rose in early trading on the Paris stock exchange Tuesday after a newspaper reported the French car maker could swap stockholdings with Mercedes owner Daimler AG.

AFP - World oil prices rebounded slightly on Tuesday, after recent heavy losses, with traders on tenterhooks on the eve of a key production meeting of the OPEC oil cartel in Vienna.

AP - Saab Spyker Automobiles NV may announce that it is locating its U.S. headquarters in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak.

BusinessWeek - Chelsi Pohlmeier still remembers the butterflies she felt in 2007, when she first saw the barbed wire fences surrounding the Cleveland Prison Unit in Cleveland, Tex. After she passed through security, a guard escorted her down a hallway to a classroom full of former gang members and convicted felons awaiting Pohlmeier and her classmates from the honors program at Texas A&M Mays Business School (Mays Full-Time MBA Profile). ...

The move to delay a decision on new rules for hedge funds was a reprieve for Britain, which fears that tighter regulations could drive the industry from London.

Though the details remain vague, the hope within the euro zone was that the mere announcement of a stronger support package would ease market concerns.

The Commerce Department said that construction of new homes and apartments fell 5.9 percent in February.

Construction of new US homes fell in February, with blizzards in some parts of the country being partly blamed.

The consortium behind the planned Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Europe has secured a 3.9bn euro funding deal from 26 banks.

The vice-president of Kraft Foods says he is 'terribly sorry' for the firm's pledge to keep open Cadbury's Keynsham plant.

HM Revenue and Customs drops its legal challenge over the validity of Portsmouth football club's move into administration.

Members of the forthcoming new state pension scheme - the National Employment Savings Trust - will be charged 0.3% of their funds each year.

First-time buyers faced UK house prices that were 8.9% higher in January than a year earlier, government figures show.

AP - Major stock indexes were little changed Tuesday while investors awaited results from the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates.

AFP - Construction of new houses in the United States slumped in February on freezing temperatures across the nation, breaking a rally that spurred hopes of a rapid recovery for the battered sector.

AFP - World oil prices rebounded slightly on Tuesday, after recent heavy losses, with traders on tenterhooks on the eve of a key production meeting of the OPEC cartel.

As pharmaceutical sales in countries like China and India overtake established markets, leading drug companies risk losing market share to local players, a study said.

Greece got a vote of confidence from Standard & Poor?s for its deficit reduction efforts but was still looking for details on a rescue package from European Union members.

The move to delay a decision on new rules for hedge funds was a reprieve for Britain, which fears that tighter regulations could drive the industry from London.

Though the details remain vague, the hope within the euro zone was that the mere announcement of a stronger support package would ease market concerns.

Energy firm Npower signs a three-year deal worth £21m to become the new sponsor of the Football League.

Trade unions at British Airways agree a plan to help cut the massive deficit in one of its two final-salary pension schemes.

Savers in the Equitable Life insurance company denounce the limited compensation process set up by the government.

AP - Stocks climbed Tuesday while investors awaited results from the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates.

AP - Europe's threat to ban the sort of financial derivatives trading that some blame for worsening Greece's debt crisis wouldn't work, a senior U.S. official told EU lawmakers Tuesday.

AP - Greece won some respite from financial market pressure Tuesday as ratings agency Standard & Poor's took the country off credit watch for a possible downgrade — a day after eurozone governments laid out a vague blueprint for possible loans to help the indebted country.

Reuters - New York state's film tax credit has generated about $7 billion in economic activity since 2004 and become a key economic driver, the state's comptroller said on Tuesday.

AP - Color measurement technology company X-Rite Inc. posted a fourth-quarter profit Tuesday, reversing a year-ago loss tied to the company's 2007 acquisition of Pantone.

AP - Saudi Arabia's oil minister said Tuesday he expected OPEC to keep output steady for the rest of this year, in comments reflecting expectations that crude prices and supply are in sync with the fitfully recovering world economy.

Reuters - Car bomb attacks by the main militant group in Nigeria's oil delta will not derail an amnesty program meant to restore security to Africa's biggest energy industry, government and security sources said on Tuesday.

AFP - Japanese carmaker Nissan said on Tuesday it will launch its Micra small car in the Indian market in July from a plant in the south co-owned with its French partner Renault.

The agency characterized its proposal, which it sent to Congress on Tuesday, as a step for keeping the country competitive.

British regulators say actions by a senior trader at Merrill Lynch in London has forced the bank to take a $456 million write-down.

Greece receives some positive news from the financial markets as ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) backs its economic recovery plans.

Japanese car manufacturer Honda has announced it is recalling 410,000 cars in the US because of complaints about their brakes.

The vice-president of Kraft Foods says he is 'terribly sorry' for the firm's pledge to keep open Cadbury's Keynsham plant.

AP - Honda Motor Co. will recall more than 410,000 Odyssey minivans and Element small trucks because of braking system problems that could make it tougher to stop the vehicle if not repaired.

Reuters - After two rocky years and a severe global financial crisis, General Electric Co expects its profit and dividend to rise in 2011, the largest U.S. conglomerate's chief financial officer said.

Reuters - Bombing by Nigeria's biggest militant group in its oil delta this week will not derail an amnesty deal meant to restore security to Africa's largest energy industry, government and security sources said on Tuesday.

AFP - Honda has recalled some 412,000 vehicles in the United States because customers complained their brakes felt 'soft,' the Japanese automaker said Tuesday.

The policy-setting arm kept its benchmark rate near zero, affirming its view that recovery is slow.

Lawmakers are seeking administration action to force changes in a policy that they say gives the Chinese an edge in export markets.

The decline of the euro has helped European exporters but thrown hedging strategies into turmoil.

European public broadcasters are calling on lawmakers to make it easier to offer their programming over the Internet, saying copyright practices restrict their ability to develop new digital services.

The move covers Odyssey minivans and Element small trucks from the 2007 and 2008 model years with brake pedals that must be pressed closer to the floor to stop.

The US Federal Reserve repeats its pledge to keep interest rates at 'exceptionally low levels' to aid the recovery.

AP - The Federal Reserve's mildly upbeat take on the economy and its pledge to hold interest rates low has given stocks a lift.

AP - Tiger Woods' return to golf is a long-awaited boon to sponsors that stood by him and marketers that stand to get big exposure from the Masters audience.

AP - Discover Financial Services says ongoing loan losses led it to lose money in the first three months of the year and fall well short of analyst forecasts.

The Motley Fool - It doesn't take a genius to recall that ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM - News) is the biggest of Big Oil. So with that fact out of the way, those with a yen for investing in energy are left to question whether the company is also the best of its group.

Reuters - After two rocky years and a severe global financial crisis, General Electric Co expects its profit and dividend to rise in 2011, the largest U.S. conglomerate's chief financial officer said.

AP - Now that General Motors Co. has sold its Saab brand to a Dutch carmaker, the employees who market the brand are moving to a new headquarters in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak.

Lawmakers are seeking administration action to force changes in a policy that they say gives the Chinese an edge in export markets.

Equity markets were helped by reassurances that Greece was not likely to lose its credit rating, despite its struggle to rein in spending as it deals with a deficit crisis.

AP - Job cuts at United Technologies Corp. are adding to the political debate over taxes and other costs of doing business in Connecticut.

AP - China's Focus Media Holding Ltd. said Tuesday that a drop in one-time expenses helped narrow its fourth-quarter loss.

AP - A former executive of KB Home testified Tuesday against former chairman and Chief Executive Bruce E. Karatz, who is accused of bilking shareholders out of millions of dollars by backdating stock options.

Demand for government services grows, but taxes don?t. This is the main reason for our budget problems.

The expected $10 billion offer is an effort to overcome a rival plan by General Growth in concert with Brookfield Asset Management.

The Greek government is expected to seek further details on the shape of the new loan mechanism when European Union heads of government gather next week.

Equity markets were helped by reassurances that Greece was not likely to lose its credit rating, despite its struggle to rein in spending as it deals with a deficit crisis.

The Lehman case shows how bankers exploited weaknesses in U.S. accounting standards ? seemingly without objection from the firm?s auditor, Ernst & Young.

British Airways union Unite will meet with its US counterpart Teamsters to discuss the impending strike by cabin crew.

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Irish ask for ideas to spark the recovery

Highly developed Kerala's economy is in a mess

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England sets out 2018 World Cup business case

AP - CIT Group on Tuesday said it lost $1 billion in the fourth quarter, excluding a huge one-time reorganization benefit.

Reuters - The end of the Federal Reserve's program of purchasing $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities at the end of March is a form of tightening monetary policy, the chief of the largest U.S. bond fund manager said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Canadian lawmakers accused Toyota Motor Corp executives on Tuesday of waiting too long to inform the government of problems with faulty accelerators in some of the company's vehicles.

In a string of projects that has so far provoked only token opposition from environmentalists, some companies are putting power lines under water.

Using innocuous bits of data from Web sites like Facebook and Twitter, researchers gleaned people?s names, ages and even Social Security numbers.

The Federal Communications Commission characterized its proposal, which it sent to Congress, as a step for keeping the country competitive.

In light of the unemployment rate, members of Congress from both parties are calling on the administration to act.

By suggesting further examination at every turn, Congress is delaying tough regulatory decisions.

Regulators and lawmakers worldwide are tightening their scrutiny of hedge funds and private equity firms.

The European Broadcasting Union said its proposals were intended to push cross-border online video services.

In a Hollywood-style heist, thieves cut a hole in the roof of a warehouse, rappelled inside and scored one of the biggest hauls of its kind ? about $75 million in antidepressants and other prescription drugs.

Tupperware?s marketing campaign tries to sell the idea that men who want to attract women should be comfortable in the kitchen.

AP - A Delaware bankruptcy judge has refused to halt implementation of his order allowing auto parts supplier Visteon Corp. to terminate its retirees' health and life insurance benefits.

The Lehman case shows how bankers exploited weaknesses in U.S. accounting standards ? seemingly without objection from the firm?s auditor, Ernst & Young.

After years of growth, the downturn in commercial real estate has hit Phoenix hard, with rents down more than 50 percent in a year.

Technology shares led Asian stock markets higher on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve maintained its pledge to hold interest rates near zero.

A 12,000-square-foot former space formerly home to a church then nightclub will have 35 upscale boutiques and restaurants.

President Obama will give a rare interview to Fox News on Wednesday despite its reputation as being close to the Republican Party.

AFP - Honda announced the recall of an estimated 412,000 vehicles in the United States because of problems with 'soft' brakes, in the latest blow to the embattled Japanese auto industry.