IBT Staff Reporter

A senior Chinese military officer has called for a new national body to enforce Internet controls, while China faced fresh claims on Monday about the source of hacking attacks that hit search giant Google.

India's Bharti Airtel has lined up $9 billion in loans from foreign and local banks for its planned acquisition of the African assets of Kuwait's Zain , the Economic Times reported on Monday.

Five former Treasury secretaries urged Congress on Sunday to bar banks that receive federal support from engaging in speculative activity unrelated to basic bank services.

Toyota Motor Corp believed it had saved over $100 million by convincing U.S. regulators to end a 2007 investigation of sudden acceleration complaints with a relatively cheap floormat recall, according to an internal company document.

Schlumberger Ltd agreed to buy Smith International in a $11.34 billion all-stock deal that will boost the oilfield services leader's revenue to double that of its nearest rival.

The Australian Dollar opens on Monday at 0.8995 after a surprise rate raise in the United States last Friday (local time) sent the greenback soaring against several major currencies.

Iran hopes to double trade with Iraq to $8 billion this year, an Iranian diplomat said on Sunday, shrugging off Western-backed sanctions aimed at curbing business with the Islamic Republic.

Schlumberger Ltd said it agreed to buy Smith International in a $11.34 billion all-stock deal that will boost the oilfield services leader's revenue to double that of its nearest rival.

Wall Street could keep rallying after notching its best week this year if Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gives a reassuring assessment of the recovery and retail earnings show improvement.

Greece's fiscal problems must be solved within the euro zone rather than with the International Monetary Fund , French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said in an interview published in a Greek newspaper on Sunday.

Greece's borrowing needs are covered until mid-March and Athens so far is meeting goals set out in an austerity plan, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said in an interview with BBC television broadcast on Sunday.

Two U.S. drug safety reviewers have recommended that GlaxoSmithKline PLC's diabetes drug Avandia be pulled from the market after concluding it is more dangerous to the heart than a rival medicine, according to documents released on Saturday.

A prestigious Chinese university and a lesser-known vocational school have denied a report they were the source of recent cyber attacks on Internet giant Google and other U.S. corporations, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

A British pension fund regulator has filed a claim for 2.1 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) against failed telecom equipment giant Nortel Networks Corp, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Saturday.

Oracle Corp Chief Executive Larry Ellison said on Saturday he expected Sun Microsystems, the unprofitable hardware maker that he bought last month for $7.5 billion, to be making a profit soon.

A General Growth Properties Inc shareholder has filed suit against the company's directors, saying they should not have rejected Simon Property Group Inc's buyout offer of $10 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday.

So many variables affect the value of the dollar that it is hard to know where the greenback is headed, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto said on Saturday.

President Barack Obama, in need of securing votes in Congress to support his agenda in the coming years, came to the Western U.S. this week to help raise campaign funds for a pair of struggling Senators from his party.

Three of international ice hockey's greatest rivalries take center stage for a hat-trick of grudge matches in what is being billed as Olympic Super Sunday at Canada Hockey Place. Sports

Austrian Andrea Fischbacher unleashed the performance of her life on Saturday to win the women's super-G gold medal as organizers of the Vancouver Olympics faced fresh complaints about safety standards.

Iceland's Prime Minister said on Saturday that a new Icesave debt repayment deal from Britain and the Netherlands would considerably ease the island nation's financial burden, state radio reported.

A Chinese vocational school has denied a report it was a source of recent cyber attacks on Internet giant Google and other U.S. corporations, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

Germany's finance ministry has sketched out a plan in which countries using the euro currency will provide aid worth between 20 billion and 25 billion euros ($27-$33.7 billion) for Greece, a magazine reported on Saturday.

The German finance ministry has said that countries using the euro currency will together provide aid worth between 20 and 25 billion euros ($27.2 and $34 bilion ) for Greece, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

Al Qaeda aims to infiltrate Central Asia to train militants and turn the ex-Soviet region into a zone of unrest, a U.S. envoy said on Saturday.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said world powers would have to take new action against Iran in the next few weeks if Tehran continues to reject Western proposals on its disputed nuclear programme.

India will narrow down the number of bidders by mid-2010 for its $11 billion fighter jet tender, a minister said, in a closely watched deal where diplomacy and strategic interests will play a big role.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai renewed his call on Saturday for the Taliban to accept his peace proposal, after a NATO offensive and the capture of a top Taliban leader raised hopes the group could be more flexible.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's coalition government collapsed on Saturday when the two largest parties failed to agree on whether to withdraw troops from Afghanistan this year as planned.