GERMANY

German Chancellor Angela Merkel aims to boost business ties with India on her first trip to the world's biggest democracy starting on Monday.

The ongoing 30 hour railroad strike that is executed by the German train driver's union GDL is slicing the capacity of the passenger travel effectively to half.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc posted a narrower third-quarter loss, helped by sales of its key drug Soliris, sending its shares up nearly 8 percent in early electronic trade.

Studying abroad has been accepted by more and more Chinese students and parents according to a new study.

Europe's banks are considering their next move after ABN AMRO succumbed to the world's biggest bank takeover.

This Tuesday, European Commission executive Franco Frattini proposed to create a "blue card" for the Union that would allow skilled labor from abroad to enter and settle in the member states easier than currently.

The European Union's highest court on Tuesday struck down a German law that shielded Volkswagen from takeover, paving the way for Porsche to take majority control of Europe's biggest carmaker.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc will spend up to 100 billion yen ($878 million) to buy out minority shareholders in Japanese supermarket unit Seiyu Ltd in an effort to turn around the money-losing chain.

Financial market turbulence should have only a limited impact on euro-zone growth, European Central Bank policymakers said at weekend meetings of global financial officials in Washington.

Fiscal policy makers from the Group of Seven meeting this week in Washington this week did not specifically address the issue of the dollar trading near all-time lows versus the euro in recent weeks.

With global economic growth waning and a credit crunch threatening, finance chiefs from rich nations were gathering on Friday to mull how to control strains in financial markets and keep expansion going.

EBay Inc said on Wednesday it had a strong quarterly performance in auctions, masked by a big net loss due to a write-down, and that its full-year earnings would be at the top end of expectations.The third-quarter net loss of $936 million, or 69 cents per diluted share, compared with a year-ago profit of $281 million, or 20 cents per diluted share. The loss stemmed from a $1.39 billion write-down on eBay's takeover of Internet phone service Skype.

Despite the credit crunch, firms in Germany still have ample financing

Oracle Corp on Friday said it offered to buy BEA Systems Inc for about $6.66 billion, its latest effort to up the ante against Microsoft Corp. and Germany's SAP in the fiercely competitive market for business software.

Stocks around the world extended gains on Thursday while the yen slipped against the dollar after the Bank of Japan decided not to change interest rates.

France's Albert Fert and Germany's Peter Gruenberg won the 2007 Nobel Prize for physics on Tuesday for discoveries allowing the miniaturization of hard disks in electronic devices from laptops to iPods.

A delectable opening in Germany helped Ratatouille take the top spot at the international box office, with estimated weekend ticket sales of $19.7 million from 30 markets.

BNP Paribas, France's biggest bank, is building up its onshore private banking presence in China, India and Taiwan and expects total assets under management in Asia to grow by 20 percent a year in the next few years, the head of its Asia private banking operation said.

Asian stocks outside of Japan hit record highs on Monday, but the dollar headed lower after a solid U.S. jobs report failed to dampen expectations for a further cut in interest rates. European markets were also expected to rise. European stock markets were set to open slightly higher, extending five straight days of gains, but with Japanese markets closed and no major economic data expected out of the United States due to the Columbus Day holiday, trade was expected to be light.

The world moved into 'ecological overdraft' - the point where consumption exceeds the ability of the earth to sustain it.

After months of negotiations between Deutsche Bahn and the train driver's union GDL didn't bring a conclusion, the GDL decided to strike again. And the nearly sole operator of the extensive German railway system Deutsche Bahn issued another lawsuit to avert the strike in response. The GDL announced a nationwide rail strike for tomorrows Friday, and the labor court in the city of Chemnitz will begin the trial this afternoon. It depends on the outcome of this trial if the GDL can proceed with their plans.