IBT Staff Reporter

Hopes of progress this week on Dubai World's $26 billion debt restructuring lifted stocks and eased fears of default, but potential divisions emerged among creditors to the state-owned conglomerate.

Kathryn Bigelow became the fist woman to win the award for Best Director on Sunday at the 2010 Academy Awards, in which her film The Hurt Locker took five awards including Best Picture.

AIG is selling its foreign life insurance unit to MetLife Inc for about $15.5 billion, its second major asset sale in a week as it raises funds to repay a $182.3 billion U.S. government bailout.

Stocks were flat in early trading on Monday after a rally last week that saw the Nasdaq close at an 18-month high after encouraging jobs data.

Panasonic Corp will launch its 3D televisions in the United States on Wednesday, and work with top U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy Co to promote the products, the Japanese electronics maker said.

General Motors will pay Stephen Girsky, recently appointed vice chairman in charge of corporate strategy and business development, around $5 million a year, mainly in stocks, the company said on Friday.

The Obama administration has boosted U.S. defense ties to Israel and will close ranks with its ally against any threat from a nuclear-armed Iran, Vice President Joe Biden said on Monday ahead of a trip to Israel.

International development banks must finance civilian nuclear projects to help emerging nations build energy plants, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday, laying out ambitious plans to develop the industry.

The European Union's top diplomat, Catherine Ashton, has had a tough time since taking on the job four months ago, but will try to turn things around this week as she sets out her foreign policy goals.

A suicide car bomb attack on a police intelligence unit in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore killed at least 12 people and wounded about 65 during Monday's morning rush hour, officials said.

A strong earthquake killed 57 villagers in a remote part of eastern Turkey before dawn on Monday, officials said, and aftershocks continued for hours after while rescuers searched for trapped survivors.

More than 55 percent of Iraqis voted in parliamentary election despite attempts by Sunni Islamist insurgents to disrupt the landmark vote with attacks that killed 38 people, officials said on Monday.

Portugal became the latest euro zone country to announce austerity measures to rein in a ballooning budget deficit as bond markets eased pressure on debt-stricken Greece on Monday after a French pledge of EU help.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc, an operator of offshore oil and gas facilities, said it is looking to divest its entire oil and gas business.

Abu Dhabi government-owned Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) plans to spend $2 to $3 billion this year in capacity expansion.

Four in five adults believe access to the Internet is a fundamental right -- with those feelings particularly strong in South Korea and China -- and half believe it should never be regulated, according to a global survey.

Investor jitters over the health of underlying EADS earnings due out on Tuesday took the shine off a long-awaited international deal.

Whole Foods Market Inc investors will vote on Monday on a proposal that would make it easier for shareholders to oust a director whose conduct they deem inappropriate.

Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance said its IPO, Japan's biggest in 12 years, would raise as much as 1.1 trillion yen ($12 billion) at the top of a price range.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Monday, following a strong rally to end last week's session, when the Nasdaq closed at an 18-month high on better-than-expected February payroll data.

McDonald's Corp reported a 4.8 percent rise in February sales at established restaurants as strong overseas results offset softness in the United States.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday following a strong rally to end last week's session, when the Nasdaq closed at an 18-month high on better-than-expected February payroll data.

The Federal Reserve could retain oversight of large bank holding companies under a scaled-back regulatory reform plan being considered by key senators, but important questions remained unanswered, lobbyists said on Sunday.

AIG is selling its foreign life insurance unit to MetLife Inc for about $15.5 billion, in its second major asset sale in a week to repay the U.S. government billions of bailout money.

Stock index futures pointed to a pause on Wall Street on Monday after last week's strong rally fueled by better-than-expected U.S. jobs data.

Any rise in the yuan's exchange rate will be gradual, China's trade chief said on Monday in comments that underline the competing interests at the heart of Chinese policy-making.

There is a 21 percent higher prostate cancer mortality rate in men of remote and regional Australia as compared to the men in capital cities.

A recent study done by the Child Health Survey released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found that nearly 50 percent of all children aged six experienced tooth decay.

A new taste sense of fat has recently been developed by researchers that could have the key to help people beat the bulge as this discovery worked by fooling the body into thinking that it has consumed enough of the fatty fill.