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According to the official reports, U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlined an American presence in Afghanistan that will continue even after U. S. troops have left the country, a significant change of perspective for the administration.

Clinton said Tuesday, opening a day of consultations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and many members of his Cabinet, "This partnership is a long-term commitment. This commitment, Mr. President will endure long after U. S. combat troops have left."

Clinton said, "We will not abandon the Afghan people."

According to officials, U. S. senators voted 96-0 Tuesday to have auditors review the role of the Federal Reserve during the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009.

U. S. Sen. Bernard Sanders, Ind-Vt., who proposed the amendment, which will be attached to the 1,400-page regulatory reform bill, said, "The Fed can no longer operate in virtual secrecy."

Officials have said that Brazil is positioning itself to use talks with France on a multibillion-dollar arms deal as a bargaining chip in Latin America's fight for better terms for Mercosur agricultural exports to Europe.

It has been reported that Latin America's Mercosur trading bloc, itself riven by divisions, will face European partners at the May 18 summit of Caribbean, Latin American and European countries in Madrid.

A General Motors Co. advertisement was "slightly" a distortion of the facts, Former White House automobile industry adviser Steve Rattner has said.

The Detroit News reported on Tuesday that before a speech in Chicago praising the government's efforts to revive the automobile industry, Rattner said GM "may have slightly elasticized the reality of things," in an ad in which GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre Jr. says the company had repaid the taxpayer funded bailouts it received.

A real estate group has said that the median sale price of homes in a 10-county region including Detroit jumped 61.3 percent from April 2009 to April 2010.

The Detroit News reported on Tuesday that Realcomp II Ltd., based in Farmington Hills, Mich., said the price of homes and condominiums surged from a year ago, but a separate study by CoreLogic Inc. said Michigan has the fourth highest percentage of homes in which the homeowner owes more on the mortgage than the home is worth.

According to the official reports, Oshkosh Defense received a new production order to provide the U. S. Army with its Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles trucks and trailers.

Part of its 5-year Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles contract with the Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command, the award is for a delivery of more than 2,600 vehicles and trailers systems.

The new FMTV production deal is worth $410 million.