IBT Staff Reporter

Sanofi-Aventis has extended its snubbed $18.5 billion cash bid for U.S. biotech group Genzyme by six weeks, buying the French drugmaker time to persuade its reluctant target to talk.

Orange juice prices soared to their highest in 3-1/2 years on Monday after the National Weather Service warned a hard freeze would strike Florida on Tuesday.

Grocery store chain Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, drained of cash by tough competition and a sluggish economic recovery.

Increasing global domination of Google's Android operating system, rapid market share gains by its Chrome browser and the potential of its Chrome OS for PCs position the Internet search giant to benefit from the digitization of human life, Wedbush Securities said.

The former deputy to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is vowing to launch a rival site soon that he says will be more transparent than the original.

India is set to launch its advanced GSAT-5P communication satellite on December 20 that will replace the INSAT 2E to ensure continuity of telecom and television services.

Pepsico chief's sibling finds fame as a vocalist and is nominated for a Grammy

General Electric Co reached a deal to buy Wellstream Holdings Plc by raising its bid for the British oil drilling pipemaker by 6 percent to 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion).

Wall Street rose modestly on Monday with investor appetite for stocks lifted by a flurry of merger deals and the expected congressional approval of a tax-cut extension.

Top executives in the Brazilian capital of Sau Paulo are reportedly earning higher salaries than their counterparts in the global financial powerhouses of New York, London and Hong Kong, but few seem to think so.

What the Federal Reserve giveth, Obama taketh away.

At least 22 fishermen are feared to be killed after a South Korean trawler sank suddenly in the waters off Antarctica on Monday. Reports suggest that the incident took place after the ship, No. 1 InSung, collided with an iceberg. The ship sank even before it could send a SOS message, approximately 30 minutes into the accident, and officials state that the men onboard had no chance of getting into their protective gear.

The Sri Lankan government has decided to get rid of the Tamil version of its national anthem, local media reports say. The country anthem will only be sung in the majority Sinhala language at all Government events, while the Tamil version will not be played. In a move that could anger the Tamilians worldwide, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet has reportedly approved the decree last week. Tamil leaders have threatened to boycott the anthem all together.

The outage suffered by Amazon.com's European websites was due to a hardware failure but not due to hacking attacks, according to the company. The websites Amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.fr and amazon.es were down for almost half an hour late on Sunday night. Hackers have not made any claims of the attack so far.

The new federal estate taxes proposed for the State of California will result in a much higher budget deficit in the state, according to a report by Moody's Investor Services.

Economists are more positive about economic growth in 2011 in the United States, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal.

'Tis the season of the smart workout, when mobile phones track miles run, treadmills interact with virtual trainers and computer chips render even jump ropes artificially intelligent.

NEW YORK - As music retailers suffer ever shrinking sales, some of the most aggressive moves to boost business are being made by the perpetual runners-up in their respective sectors.

US conglomerate GE said it agreed to buy Britain's oilfield-services company Wellstream Holdings Plc for 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion) to broaden its base in fast-growing emerging markets.

Stock index futures rose on Monday after China held off on raising interest rates over the weekend despite high inflation pressure.

Airbus raised its 20-year forecasts for aircraft demand and passenger traffic on Monday on the back of a stronger than predicted recovery in airlines powered by emerging markets.

Stock index futures were higher on Monday after China decided to leave interest rates unchanged.

Lenovo, the world's No. 4 PC maker, expects its operating profit margin to trend upwards, helped by easing component shortages and an appreciating Chinese currency, its CFO said on Monday at the Reuters China Investment Summit.

Caretaker Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) is leading in Kosovo's Sunday polls, reports suggest. The results are expected to be declared in the late hours of Sunday. The country is holding its first election since unilaterally declaring independence in 2007 from Serbia.

Euro zone countries must consolidate public finances even though this is likely to dampen economic growth in the near term, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Monday.

Bank of America Corp has put up for sale at least $1 billion worth of toxic mortgage assets, the New York Post said on Monday, citing sources.

DENVER - The app is far too powerful a tool to be limited to mobile phones.

Stock index futures pointed to mixed open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.05 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.03 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.06 percent at 0853 GMT.

Selling pressure on 10-year U.S. Treasuries drove yields to fresh six-month highs on Monday as investors threatened to undo this year's bond rally on signs of global economic recovery and deeper U.S. deficits.