POLITICS

South African refiner SAPREF has delayed the full start-up of its 180,000 barrels per day plant in Durban until the beginning of October, extending its shutdown to more than three months, a company spokeswoman said on Monday.

Sudan is expected to agree to an extended African Union peacekeeping mandate in Darfur when African foreign ministers meet in New York on Monday, a presidential adviser said.

The world's asset managers and pension funds do not see eye to eye on the type of investment products that are most needed to deal with the rising cost of a greying population

Petrofac Ltd. reported a higher than expected 67 percent rise in first half profit on Monday

Namibia's annual inflation rate quickened to 5.4 percent in August from 5.1 percent in July, largely driven by rising food and transport costs, official data showed on Monday.

Cognos Inc. is preparing to unplug its business analysis software from the desktop PC and make it mobile, with plans for its first launch on BlackBerry devices in early 2007.

Music videos from artists like Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sean Paul will be legally available for the first time on YouTube

Gas prices fell on Monday ahead of an expected inflow of extra gas from Norway later this week via the new Langeled pipeline.

Growing coffee for 20 years has not lifted 60-year-old Maina Kimondo from poverty.So fine talk of a new marketing system that could boost earnings fails to raise a spark in his eye.

The World Bank's private sector arm said on Monday it hiked investments in the Middle East and Africa by 80 percent in the year that ended in June due to higher demand in those regions and it aims to do more in 2007. We are refocusing on these countries, International Finance

Investors who have seen energy prices rocket due to scarce supplies are starting to wager that forecasted shortages will cause the value of water to skyrocket

British bank Alliance & Leicester Plc said on Monday it had sold customer leases worth 391 million pounds and the deal would boost its second half pretax profit by 30 million pounds.

Broking group Collins Stewart Tullett reported on Monday a surge in first half profits and said the planned demerger of its stockbroking business would completed by the end of the year.

They are jumping ship or receiving the pink slip. America's real estate agents and mortgage lenders, that is.

Computer hardware group Radstone said on Monday that it was recommending a 130.4 million pound bid from U.S. based GE Fanuc

Bluetooth specialist CSR's shares dropped 26 percent in early trading on Monday after it reduced profit expectations for the year

Several rivals of Apple Computer Inc. plan digital music devices to work closely with their own online music services, just as Apple's iPods and iTunes do

Asking prices for homes in England and Wales grew almost 10 percent on a year ago in the period from mid August to early September

The country's No. 2 department store group Debenhams said on Monday it would meet its profit expectations and that a Femme Fatale look in women's fashion was helping to revive trading after a sluggish early summer.

Finance ministers on Monday backed a controversial new World Bank strategy for tackling corruption in developing countries but insisted on overseeing how it is implemented

Music videos from artists like Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sean Paul will be legally available for the first time on YouTube, a popular online video sharing site, after signing its first commercial partnership with Warner Music Group.

Chancellor Gordon Brown suggested on Monday economic growth this year would turn out stronger than forecast in his budget a timely boost as he sets out his pitch to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Stocks edged up on Monday, led by mining stocks based on higher commodity prices.

Oil prices nudged higher for a second day on Monday, struggling to end their steepest slump in more than a decade amid robust winter fuel stocks and easing geopolitical and weather risks to oil supplies. NYMEX crude for October delivery

Oil giant BP has denied misleading a U.S. environmental regulator about having installed safety equipment at its Texas City refinery

DLJ, the private equity arm of Credit Suisse, is in talks to buy engineering company Morgan Crucible Co for around 925 million pounds, a source familiar with the matter said.

Retailer MFI Furniture Group said on Saturday that talks over the sale of its retail operations to a private equity group were now at an advanced stage.

European investors will focus on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision next week and clues about the U.S. economy, while a smattering of company results will also roll on in Europe and the United States.

The world's leading industrial countries are enjoying strong growth but face the risk of rising inflationary expectations, tight energy markets and spreading protectionism