MoneyHowl.com

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil sank below $72 a barrel on Tuesday, after rising nearly 1 percent the day before, weighed down by nagging worries over an uncertain demand outlook and the fiscal health of some euro zone countries.

Crude rose on Monday, snapping three sessions of losses, as a weaker U.S. dollar, a cold snap and geopolitical tensions provided support.

But fears over the euro zone’s sovereign debt woes continued to cast a pall over commodity and equity markets, with Wall Street closing below the 10,000-level for the first time since November the previous day, and Japan’s Nikkei average hitting its lowest in two months on Tuesday.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A consortium led by Walt Disney Co is in advanced talks to buy into China’s largest in-bus digital media and advertising company, a deal that could offer the U.S. entertainment giant a new platform to promote Mickey Mouse in China, three sources told Reuters.

Technology | Deals | Media | China

Google Inc, the world’s No.1 Internet search company, which threatened to quit China last month over censorship and hacking concerns, was among investors in the Disney-led consortium, the sources said on Monday.

A Chinese-born aerospace engineer who had access to sensitive material while working with a pair of major defense contractors in Southern California was sentenced Monday to more than 15 years in prison for acquiring secret space shuttle information and other documents for China.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney in Santa Ana imposed a 188-month prison term on Dongfan “Greg” Chung, 73, a naturalized U.S. citizen who resides in Orange.

Now that air travelers are warming to the idea of paying extra for service amenities, American Airlines is going to ask them to pay to stay warm in the air.

Beginning May 1, coach passengers on American’s domestic flights that last more than two hours, as well as those on flights to Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, will have to pay $8 for a blanket and inflatable neck pillow. The airline will throw in a $10 off coupon for purchases of more than $30 at Bed Bath & Beyond stores.

The Dow, down almost 104 points, had its 10th triple-digit move in 16 trading days. Shares of big banks pulled the market lower, extending a slump that has led to four straight weekly losses.

Mounting deficits in weaker European economies including Greece, Portugal and Spain have raised questions about the health of the global financial system. That compounded concerns about growth in China and proposed U.S. bank regulations took the market down from a 15-month high reached in January.

EVERETT, Wash., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The Boeing (NYSE: BA) 747-8 Freighter successfully took to the sky for the first time today before more than 5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and community leaders. The flight begins a test program for the world’s most efficient freighter.

With 747 Chief Pilot Mark Feuerstein and Capt. Tom Imrich in the flight deck, the newest member of the 747 family took off at 12:39 p.m. local time from Paine Field in Everett and landed at Paine Field at 4:18 p.m.

Google Inc. has lowered by $200 the fee it charges customers who break a standard two-year contract for its new Nexus One phone on the T-Mobile USA Inc. network.

The Google fee was dropped to $150 from $350, but customers who break a contract on the phone will still have to pay an early termination fee of $200 to T-Mobile.

The lower “equipment recovery fee” on the Nexus One, which took effect on Jan. 4, will apply to customers who break their contract after the 14-day trial period but before 120 days. Customers who break the contract after 120 days will not have to pay any fee.

A former executive of Intel admitted in court on Monday that he had leaked confidential corporate information to his close friend Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund. He adds to a list of cooperating witnesses that federal prosecutors are using to build a case in a wide-ranging insider-trading scandal.

The executive, Rajiv Goel, said at a court hearing that his friendship with Mr. Rajaratnam began 25 years ago when the two attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

In an interview in Ta Nea newspaper, Papaconstantinou also insisted that middle- and low-income earners would pay less tax. Papaconstantinou hopes to raise nearly euro4 billion in extra taxes this year, and an additional euro1.2 billion from a crackdown on tax evasion.

European stocks rebounded Monday, a sign that some think the government debt crisis that has shaken up European Union leaders may have been overdone. The reasoning is that a default would be such a serious blow to the euro currency that the EU would organize a rescue, although EU and Greek officials insist none will be necessary.

TOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp was preparing a global recall of its new Prius model on Monday, further damaging its reputation for quality and reliability on the heels of two other massive recalls.

In addition, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported that Toyota will halt domestic production of its Sai and Lexus HS250h hybrids, which are to be recalled for faulty brakes, at the end of this week.