IBT Staff Reporter

Dubai's debt restructuring proposal will determine the fate of UAE equity markets as the ailing emirate seeks support from Abu Dhabi, with markets poised to rally if the deal includes guarantees, analysts said.

Financial investors are interested in acquiring Metro's department store chain Kaufhof and Arcandor's Karstadt chain, aiming to merge them into one, two people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Top Indian telecoms firm Bharti Airtel said on Sunday it had tied up the entire financing requirement of $8.3 billion for its planned acquisition of Kuwaiti firm Zain's African assets.

Combined support for Greece from the IMF and the European Union would be the best way to help the over-borrowed country deal with its debt crisis, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said on Sunday.

China's state media on Sunday accused Google Inc of pushing a political agenda by groundlessly accusing the Chinese government of supporting hacker attacks and by trying to export its own culture, values and ideas.

Developed countries with big budget deficits must start now to prepare public opinion for the belt-tightening that will be needed starting next year, the No. 2 official at the IMF said on Sunday.

China's trade balance could turn to a deficit in March, commerce minister Chen Deming said on Sunday, adding that adjustments to the yuan's value would not by itself resolve global trade imbalances.

Novell Inc spurned a $2 billion takeover offer from investment fund Elliott Associates on Saturday, calling the bid inadequate and saying it undervalued the business software maker.

After China, platinum jewellery is making inroads in India now. Till now, Indians have been ardent lovers of gold, buying it on every auspicious occasion. Indians are the biggest consumers of the yellow metal in the world. But, things are changing slowly. Platinum is the new craze for younger generation and they go for the white metal.

There is an alarming rise of gonorrhoea cases in the NSW port city of Newcastle, health authorities warned. More than 40 people have just been recently diagnosed with the sexually transmitted infection (STI) this year, which is more than four times the rate during the same period in 2009.

A former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc executive warned months before the bank's collapse that senior management was potentially misleading investors and regulators about the value of the firm's assets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

The rapid southern spread of a potentially fatal cattle disease that is endemic in warmer Queensland but not often experienced in the cooler south, is now being tracked by the animal health authorities in NSW.

Dozens of West Australians determined to end their lives are jetting to Thailand, as the country becomes the latest destination of choice for purchasing euthanasia drugs.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said only the most extreme circumstances could justify a bailout of a European Union state from within the union, and any such aid would have to be delivered bilaterally.

Kevin Rudd had dismissed suggestions that his new funding plan could financially ruin many hospitals as scare campaigns launched by various state health bureaucrats yesterday.

An insolvency mechanism should be set up for nations that are unable to manage their debts, Horst Koehler, Germany's president and a former head of the International Monetary Fund, said in an interview on Saturday.

The number one killer of women in Australia is not the most fatal cancer, though lung cancer gets the dubious honour. According to Dr Jane Smith, associate professor and representative of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, heart disease, which is the number one health risk, is something most of us can avoid with simple lifestyle changes.

Tens of thousands of opposition activists paraded through Thailand's sprawling capital on Saturday to try to win over Bangkok's middle classes to their anti-government campaign.

A Palestinian youth was killed by Israel troops and another was seriously wounded on Saturday during a clash in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Pope Benedict apologized on Saturday to victims of child sex abuse by clergy in Ireland and ordered an official inquiry there to try to stem a scandal gripping the Catholic Church which has swept across Europe.

The board of India's Bharti Airtel on Saturday approved a $9 billion offer for Kuwaiti telecom Zain's African assets, Bloomberg reported, citing two people with knowledge of the negotiations.

The trillion dollar Islamic finance industry is looking beyond the troubles of Dubai developer Nakheel at possible reforms that could help draw more interest from Western players.

Regulators must be significantly tougher on large and complex financial firms to limit wider risks, but big firms are still needed to keep the global economy humming, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Saturday.

Regulators must be significantly tougher on large and complex financial firms to limit wider risks, but such firms are needed to keep the global economy humming, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Saturday.

China's 2010 inflation goal of 3 percent is tough but achievable, with good grain supplies and excess capacity helping keep prices down, while growth should hit 8 or 9 percent, senior government advisers told a conference on Saturday.

Greece has taken the necessary steps to tackle its fiscal crisis and will not default on its debt obligations, the country's prime minister said on Saturday in a speech to his socialist party's national council.

Indian commodity exchanges and gold trading entities have started recognizing the real strength of retail investors with most of the commodity exchanges in the country coming up with lucrative retail investment options for gold trading. Gold has been considered as one of the important instruments of investment across the country, especially in retail households. Small household units in India are now turning up as potential investors for gold.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged lawmakers on Saturday to resist pressure to weaken a financial reform bill and called again for an independent consumer watchdog to help prevent future financial crises.

Japan's Canon Inc said its tender offer for shares in Oce NV has raised its stake in the Dutch printer maker to 84 percent, moving closer to its target of turning Oce into a wholly owned subsidiary.