IBT Staff Reporter

An Ethiopian Airlines plane with 90 people on board crashed into the Mediterranean sea shortly after taking off from Beirut international airport in the early hours of Monday, the Lebanese transport minister said.

The yen and the U.S. dollar dipped on Monday while the euro and high-yielding currencies advanced, lifted by reports that Ben Bernanke was moving closer towards being confirmed for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Markets have been fretting since late last week over whether Bernanke would be approved for the job. [nN24141266]

China's gross domestic product growth is likely to grow about 9.5 percent in 2010, largely driven by strong domestic consumption and corporate investment, a government researcher said in remarks published on Monday.

Police stopped the head of Argentina's central bank from entering the bank on Sunday, hours after he vowed to stay in his job despite a court ruling that the government said meant he had to step down.

China has every right to punish citizens using the Internet to challenge Communist Party power and ethnic policies, a senior official said Monday, pressing Beijing's counter-offensive against Google Inc.

Japanese manufacturers' confidence has recovered to its highest level since the global financial crisis hit, but remains weak overall due to concerns about deflation and sluggish domestic demand, a Reuters poll showed.

German electronic chipmaker Infineon's director Klaus Wucherer does not expect UK pension fund Hermes will be able to stop his election as chairman of the supervisory board on February 11, he told German newspaper Die Welt.

One can't think of futurology without mentioning George Orwell (1984 fame) or Alvin Toffler (Third Wave). Whenever, one comes across Futuristic predictions we get reminded of Toffler or Orwell.I was reminded of them when I read the latest provocative forecasts of the Futurist Magazine.

Investor holdings in the by Goldessential monitored (pure-play) gold-backed exchange-traded funds were seen decreasing 4.106 tonnes (-132,025 ounces) or 0.25 pct in the week from January 15th up to and including January 21st, in-house calculations based on official data showed on last Friday. Our gold ETF monitor furthermore added the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold (SGOL) to the standard list, bringing the total number of monitored tracked to thirteen. As per January 21st, the single trust held 309,54...

The chief executive of International Lease Finance Corp., the airline leasing company of American International Group , is expected to leave as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Royal Dutch Shell is slowing its expansion into high-cost Canadian tar sands, Chief Executive Peter Voser said in Monday's edition of the Financial Times.

The U.S. economy probably closed out 2009 with the fastest growth rate in nearly four years, yet it won't be enough to tempt the Federal Reserve to lift record-low interest rates.

The U.S. economy probably closed out 2009 with the fastest growth rate in nearly four years, yet it won't be enough to tempt the Federal Reserve to lift record-low interest rates.

Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest maker of PCs, will launch a digital music service across key European markets on Monday, hoping to benefit from consumers' rising appetite for new types of music download services.

Embattled Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke edged closer to winning support for a second term after the Senate's Republican leader predicted confirmation and Democrats aimed to have a vote this week.

Sam's Club, the warehouse club division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc is cutting roughly 11,200 jobs, or about 10 percent of its workforce, as it outsources in-store product demonstrations and eliminates positions used to recruit new business members.

The Aussie dollar dipped below 90 cents during Friday's Asian session following a larger than expected 4.3% fall in the Australian Q4 import price index.

China could overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy in 2010, one year before Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jim O'Neill had previously expected.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's approval ratings have risen slightly, a poll showed Sunday, but remain near record lows amid a row over the salary of the head of state electricity group EdF.

Iceland has approached several governments about the possibility of mediating talks on the more than $5 billion its owes to Britain and the Netherlands after the island's banking crisis, Icelandic media reported on Sunday.

White House senior advisers voiced confidence on Sunday that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be confirmed by the Senate for a second term.

U.S. soldiers and Brazilian U.N. troops handed out food and water in one of Haiti's largest slums on Sunday amid criticism that aid was not getting to earthquake victims fast enough.

Afghan election authorities have agreed to push back a parliamentary election to September from May, pleasing diplomats who wanted time to prevent a repeat of the rampant fraud that plagued a presidential vote last year.

Some 42 Iranians were injured when a Russian-made Tupolev aircraft caught fire as it landed in northeastern Iran on Sunday, state radio said.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the December 25 failed bombing of a U.S.-bound plane in an audio tape aired on Sunday, and vowed to continue attacks on the United States.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that a deal with the United States on a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty was 95 percent agreed, news agencies reported on Sunday.

Just a year into his presidency and already in need of a political comeback, Barack Obama is trying to regain momentum by focusing on two hot-button problems: joblessness and reining in the Wall Street bankers many blame for the lackluster economy.

Iceland has approached several governments about the possibility of mediating talks on over $5 billion its owes to Britain and the Netherlands after the island's banking crisis, Icelandic media reported on Sunday.

China's Communist Party mouthpiece on Sunday accused the United States of mounting a cyber army and a hacker brigade, and of exploiting social media like Twitter or Youtube to foment unrest in Iran.