Standoff continues between Brazil troops, police (AP)

AP - As many as 300 striking police officers and their relatives held out Tuesday as heavily armed soldiers blockaded a state legislature building in northeastern Brazil.

German court rejects Jewish ghetto work claims (AP)

AP - A German court has rejected the claim of two Jewish women for extra pension payments for work they did under the Nazis in ghettos.

Eichmann exhibit gives glimpse of Israel's Mossad (AP)

AP - Lifting a half-century veil of secrecy, Israel's Mossad spy agency is opening its archive this week to reveal the story behind the legendary 1960 capture of Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann.

Oil prices climb as Iran threatens EU supply cut (AP)

AP - Oil prices climbed nearly 2 percent Tuesday after Iran again threatened to cut off supplies to Europe.

Coca-Cola beats Street, eyes cost savings (Reuters)

Reuters - Coca-Cola Co reported better-than-expected quarterly results and announced a new cost-savings program that it will use to boost its brands and mitigate higher commodity costs.

World watches as China economic leaders take stage (Reuters)

Reuters - A new guessing game is about to begin: will China's incoming generation of leaders show more courage than the current incumbents in tackling deep economic imbalances that threaten to bring growth to a sudden stop?

Glencore-Xstrata deal meets shareholder opposition (Reuters)

Reuters - At least two top 10 shareholders in miner Xstrata plan to vote against a takeover by commodities trader Glencore, threatening the creation of a powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading.

Bomb attacks strike military bases in Nigeria (AP)

AP - Bombs exploded Tuesday outside of two major military bases on the outskirts of a central Nigerian city at the heart of ethnic and religious unrest in Africa's most populous nation, injuring an unknown number of people.

Wall St edges higher as Greece draws up bailout terms (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. stocks traded edged higher on Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of discussions on a bailout package for Greece that would help the country avoid a chaotic default.

Coca-Cola adjusted 4Q results beat Street (AP)

AP - Coca-Cola reported an effervescent fourth quarter Tuesday, as the company sold more of its drinks globally and its earnings beat analyst expectations.

UBS Q4 profit hit by fallout from trading scandal (AP)

AP - Switzerland's biggest bank, UBS AG, saw its profits slide by 76 percent in the fourth quarter, in a further sign that a $2 billion trading scandal last year has dented business at a time of economic weakness in Europe and abroad.

Russia says Assad presents reform plans as forces shell Homs (Reuters)

Reuters - Russia said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad presented reform plans on Tuesday to help end the bloodshed in Syria, but Western and Arab states acted to isolate Assad further as his forces resumed bombarding the protest hotbed of Homs.

Maldives president quits after police mutiny, protests (Reuters)

Reuters - President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, widely credited with bringing democracy to the Indian Ocean archipelago, resigned on Tuesday after weeks of opposition protests erupted into a police mutiny and what an aide said amounted to a coup.

Iran shrugs off latest U.S. sanctions, trade suffers (Reuters)

Reuters - Iran castigated its U.S. adversary on Tuesday over new financial measures to disrupt Iranian commerce, and a default on payment for rice purchases highlighted the encroachment of sanctions on the staples of everyday life.

Watchdogs to drag shadow banks into the light (Reuters)

Reuters - Beyond the reach of regulators, and about half the size of the world's banking industry, a thriving breed of "shadow banks" is emerging that could trigger the next chapter in the global financial crisis.

Delaware officials wrestle over mortgage deal (Reuters)

Reuters - Delaware stands to leave up to $40 million in homeowner relief on the table, if it does not join a multi-state mortgage settlement, according to a letter from the state's banking commissioner seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Rio's Olympic Preview: Erupting Manhole Covers and Collapsing Buildings (Time.com)

Time.com - Will the Brazilian mega-city's crumbling infrastructure spoil the World Cup and the Olympics?

Obama Seeks to Cool War Fever While Keeping Up Pressure on Iran (Time.com)

Time.com - Nobody likely envies the challenge President Barack Obama faces getting his "messaging" right on Iran

Greece drafts bailout text for parties as talks inch forward (Reuters)

Reuters - Greece's government is preparing a document with a list of painful reforms needed to clinch a new financing package, a government official said on Tuesday, moving Athens one step closer to a deal needed to avoid a chaotic debt default.

AP Enterprise: Brown bank regulator an insider (AP)

AP - Gov. Jerry Brown's appointee to head the department that oversees banking, financial and consumer regulations in California led a trade association that fought against tighter lending restrictions before the subprime mortgage crisis exploded and was an executive with Washington Mutual when the now-failed bank was among the most aggressive marketers of loans to high-risk borrowers.

Exclusive: Iran defaults on rice payments to India (Reuters)

Reuters - Iranian buyers have defaulted on payments for about 200,000 tonnes of rice from their top supplier India, exporters and rice millers said on Tuesday, a sign of the mounting pressure on Tehran from a new wave of Western sanctions.

Bernanke repeats vow to shield U.S. from Europe fallout (Reuters)

Reuters - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday renewed a pledge to prevent Europe's financial crisis from damaging the U.S. economy in testimony before Congress that mirrored remarks he made last week.

Crash kills 11, mostly migrant farm workers (Reuters)

Reuters - A crash between a flatbed truck and a van carrying migrant farm workers on a rural crossroads in southwestern Ontario killed 11 people, media reported on Tuesday, in one of the most deadly vehicle accidents in Canadian history.

Toyota lifts profit forecast as disaster woes fade (AP)

AP - Toyota's quarterly profit slid 13.5 percent on production setbacks caused by last year's tsunami disaster and the flooding in Thailand, but Japan's top automaker raised its annual earnings forecast, saying a recovery is on track.

UBS warns of poor Q1 as investment bank struggles (Reuters)

Reuters - Swiss bank UBS predicted further weakness in investment banking after a restructuring of the business failed to prevent an earnings hit from the euro zone debt crisis and worries about the global economy.

Walmart names ex-Woolworths veteran as new China CEO (Reuters)

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc has named an industry veteran, but a relative newcomer to China, to run what is a strategically crucial business for the world's biggest retailer as it faces tougher competition in the fastest growing major economy.

Netanyahu can't fly solo in Israel to attack Iran (Reuters)

Reuters - Three decades ago, an Israeli prime minister faced his cabinet and invoked the Holocaust in an emotional appeal to approve an air strike against an Arab atomic reactor.

Australia floods fail to dampen big cotton crop (Reuters)

Reuters - Australia's projections for a bumper cotton crop remain on track despite a week-long deluge in major growing regions that forced thousands of residents from their homes and left rivers dangerously swollen.

The Worthless Junk the 1 Percent Waste Their Money On (ContributorNetwork)

ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Strictly speaking, the 1 percent -- people whose incomes put them above the other 99 percent of us, starting at about $340,000 a year as of 2009, according to IRS data -- don't actually spend much of their money.

Senegalese opposition denounce president's bid for third term (The Christian Science Monitor)

The Christian Science Monitor - The eight candidates came in convoys from their respective corners of Dakar to Obelisk Square in the heart of the Senegalese capital, where crowds of color-coordinated supporters awaited them while listening to political hip-hop anthems in Wolof - the local dialect. A single microphone stood on stage and each of them were introduced as "president" before they took it.

South Africa's cautious UN vote for Syrian action (The Christian Science Monitor)

The Christian Science Monitor - Russia and Chinaâs joint veto of a United Nations resolution urging Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to step down has kicked up a firestorm of criticism from the West and from human rights activists.

Merger fails, but D.Boerse CEO says allies a must (Reuters)

Reuters - D.Boerse CEO eyes new allies as NYSE deal crumbles Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) does not believe it can survive in the long term without a new partner despite the collapse of its proposed $7.4 billion merger with NYSE Euronext , its chief executive told a German newspaper.