UNITED STATES

Pakistani army chief General Pervez Kayani is appointing a new head of military intelligence, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, the first major reshuffle in the military since President Pervez Musharraf quit the army. Musharraf, who seized power as a general in 1999, stepped down as army chief in November to become a civilian president of the country, which has been ruled by the military for more than half of the 60 years since its independence

Turkish forces fought Kurdish guerrillas at close quarters as they advanced on a key PKK base in northern Iraq on Monday, and Baghdad warned a prolonged incursion could have serious consequences for the region.

Investment banks saw the amount they earn in fees rise to record levels for the fifth year in a row in 2007, despite the impact of the credit crunch on major banks.

Credit card network, Visa has said it is planning to raise a record $18 billion (9 billion pounds) in what would be the largest ever Initial Public Offering in the U.S.

Serbia intends to rule parts of Kosovo where loyal citizens still look to Belgrade for government, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Monday.

The United States expects to have about 140,000 troops in Iraq even after completing a planned drawdown of combat forces in July, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Sen. Hillary Clinton will win the most delegates in a tight Ohio battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, the state's governor said.

The greenback was mixed at the start of the week, trading higher against the yen and easing versus the euro. US data will garner the lion’s share of the attention this week, with much scrutiny over the prospects for the economy to slip into recession. On the

U.S. copper futures fell on Monday after reaching their highest levels last week since May 2006 on falling London Metal Exchange inventories.

Corn extended its gain on Monday amid concerns that demand for U.S. grain will increase as global inventories fall to the lowest.

Japan Stocks soared Monday encouraged by the upcoming U.S. rescue plan to be announced Monday and the news that Chinese SWF might buy Japanese stocks as much as $10B.

Owners of privately held credit card and payment services giant Visa, Inc. plan to sell about half of the company to the general public as they look to raise a U.S. record $17.1 billion through a stock offering.

U.S. stocks rose modestly on Monday afternoon after natural gas gained to a two-year high, pushing energy companies to soar.

Gold futures fell sharply on Monday, the most in almost two weeks after the U.S. said it supports limited sales of gold reserves held by the International Monetary Fund.

The dollar gained slightly against the euro and yen on Monday after a better than expected report about home sales in the U.S. in 2008.

Gold advanced on Monday to trade just below a recent historic high on investor buying, but pared gains later as the dollar rose against the euro, traders said.

The dollar and euro both gained against a weaker yen on Monday as positive news for the U.S. financial sector boosted appetite for stocks and other riskier trades and helped underpin high-yielding currencies like the New Zealand dollar.

Goldman Sachs said it expects additional writedowns of about $1 billion to $12 billion each for several major U.S. brokers in the first quarter, with Citigroup estimated to record the highest amount of about $12 billion.

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 1430 GMT on Monday.

The distressed housing market should benefit from bargain prices but tighter lending will curtail the chance of a boom.

Enter the e-waiter. Restaurants in Europe, the United States and Japan are testing technology to let diners order their food direct from a screen at their table instead of depending on a fellow human being to note their choice -- sometimes grumpily or erroneously.