GERMANY

Six months after she nearly died, Serena Williams is closing in on what could be the greatest achievement of her incredible career.

Getting itself back into the iPhone 5 news cycle, T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom has announced that it will start taking pre-orders for Apple's successor model to the iPhone 4.

The Italian parliament begins debating a much criticized austerity package on Tuesday after President Giorgio Napolitano issued a stark warning that urgent action was needed to restore trust in public finances.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano urged swift action to strengthen planned austerity measures on Monday, saying a severe market selloff was a clear warning that markets had lost confidence in Italy.

Group of Seven financial leaders, worried about risks to global growth, are likely to agree this week to keep monetary policy accommodative, slow fiscal consolidation in countries where that is possible and implement structural reforms, a G7 source said.

European stocks got hammered on Monday and the euro tumbled as well, as investors moved into safe assets. Rising fears over Europe's sovereign debt crisis and economic growth concerns in Europe and the U.S. is driving the move away from equities. The yield on the benchmark 10-year German government bond fell to well below two percent -- a new record. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 4.1 percent Monday, closing at 223.45.

LONDON - European stocks tumbled 4 percent on Monday, with banks plumbing a more than two year low, as fears for the future of the euro zone bubbled up against a background of weak economic growth and threats to the banking sector.

Samsung was prepping to roll out its new Galaxy Tab 7.7 -- the latest in attempts to erode market share from tablet leader Apple -- but a legal victory from its rival instead forced the company to remove the device from displays just days after it was revealed.

LONDON - European stocks shed 3 percent on Monday and the euro sank against the dollar as markets weighed a risk-heavy outlook for the euro zone, dominated by peripheral debt concerns and political uncertainty in Germany.

Is Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet really as popular as the South Korean company would want us to believe? No, according to rival Lenovo, which claims that Samsung could only manage to sell 200,000 tablets in 2010 though it had shipped 1 million the same year.

Switzerland must solve a dispute with the United States over wealthy citizens using secret Swiss accounts to dodge taxes under existing laws and should continue to protect bank secrecy, the Swiss Bankers Association head said on Monday.

Stocks fell on Monday and the euro hit a three-week low versus the dollar as worries about Greek and Italian fiscal deficits and a regional election rout for Germany's ruling party cast more doubt on the euro zone's ability to solve its debt crisis.

Switzerland must solve a dispute with the United States over wealthy citizens using secret Swiss accounts to dodge taxes under existing laws and should continue to protect bank secrecy, the Swiss Bankers Association head said on Monday.

Samsung Electronics Co has stopped promoting its new tablet computer at Europe's biggest consumer electronics fair after a court-ordered sales injunction in Germany, the latest setback in its global patent battle with Apple Inc.

Japanization is shorthand for slouching toward that country's noxious mix of low growth and high debt. Euro zone governments will find it tough to keep the ugly new word out of their lexicon.

Apple scored a yet another victory in its multi-country patent infringement battle against Samsung Electronics after a German court issued a preliminary injunction barring Samsung from selling Galaxy Tab 7.7 in that country.

Up-and-coming Irish actor Michael Fassbender plays a sex addict in Shame, a movie by British video artist Steve McQueen that is vying for the top prize at the Venice film festival.

Samsung Electronics Co has stopped promoting its new tablet computer at Europe's biggest consumer electronics fair after a court-ordered sales injunction in Germany, the latest setback in its global patent battle with Apple Inc.

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti promised on Sunday to meet Italy's budget commitments after the European Central Bank stepped up pressure for action by the struggling center-right government.

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti promised on Sunday to meet Italy's budget pledges after growing speculation over whether the European Central Bank may cut back its purchases of Italian government debt.

Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Sunday called for the creation of a United States of Europe, saying the bloc needed a common government to avoid future economic crises.