IBT Staff Reporter

Mexican icon Carlos Slim may be one of the world's two richest men, but his telecommunications empire is losing some of its shine.

Delta Air Lines and American Airlines will not be invited to invest in Japan Airlines until after a new management has been put in place, if ever, a person familiar with the matter said.

Large flat-screen TVs were all the rage at the Consumer Electronics Show, but companies like Microvision Inc are putting their bets on image viewing of a much smaller scale: projections from devices as tiny as cellphones.

Once you've seen one walking trail you've seen 'em all? Not in these eight cases, where you'll tramp on unusual surfaces and wander through some curious lands.

Three Saudi banks posted fourth-quarter earnings below forecasts, hit by a slowdown in lending growth and higher provisions, with Saudi Hollandi Bank making its first quarterly loss in two years.

Iraq joined a global transparency initiative Sunday in a bid to heal its reputation as a nation plagued by corruption and misuse of its vast oil wealth.

Qatar's economy grew 11 percent in 2009, mainly due its natural gas sector, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah was quoted as saying on Sunday.

The main lenders to Japan Airlines plan to accept a restructuring package that would require the carrier to file for bankruptcy, sources said, increasing the likelihood of a state bailout this month.

Qatar Real Estate Investments (Alaqaria) agreed to a takeover by Barwa Real Estate, the companies said on Sunday, in a deal creating Qatar's ninth-largest company with a market value of $3 billion.

China ended 2009 with record monthly imports of crude oil and soybeans and a strong appetite for iron ore and copper, while its aluminium and steel sectors saw a welcome increase in export volumes.

Part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland has started the sale process for over 300 of its British branches, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Thailand's Deputy Public Health Minister resigned on Sunday after being implicated in a corruption scandal over a $2.57 billion (1.6 billion pound) healthcare scheme.

Russian security forces shot dead two senior rebel leaders and several followers in separate operations in southern Russia, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement on Sunday.

The Nigerian man who attempted to blow up a commercial jet outside Detroit on Christmas Day should be tried as an enemy combatant in a military court, a leading Republican Senator said on Sunday.

A U.S. peace envoy's suggestion that Washington could penalize Israel financially to force it into making concessions to the Palestinians drew Israeli ire on Sunday.

Would-be arsonists in mostly Muslim Malaysia struck at a convent school and a sixth church on Sunday while church and government leaders called for calm in a row over Christians' use of the word Allah to refer to God.

Gordon Brown vowed to fight on as Britain's prime minister on Sunday after a poll showed support for his Labour party had firmed slightly over the past month despite a failed leadership coup last week.

Delta Air Lines and American Airlines will not be invited to invest in Japan Airlines until after a new management has been put in place, if ever, a person familiar with the matter said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to launch an immediate and powerful response to any rocket fire at Israel after days of increased tension along the border with Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Dubai-based Arabtec Holding may need a $1.7 billion investment by Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments to cope with future losses, analysts said on Sunday, as its shares fell 6.9 percent.

China ended 2009 with record monthly imports of crude oil and soybeans and a strong appetite for iron ore and copper, while its aluminum and steel sectors saw a welcome increase in export volumes.

Growth in China's exports and imports last month blew past expectations, providing fresh evidence of the vigor of the economy and strengthening the case for Beijing to let the yuan start climbing again.

Growth in China's exports and imports last month blew past expectations, providing fresh evidence of the vigor of the economy and strengthening the case for Beijing to let the yuan start climbing again.

China vowed on Sunday not to let foreign speculative investment affect the property market, the latest expression of official concern that real-estate prices are racing ahead too fast.

New technologies showcased at this years Consumer Electronics Show are promising to bring diversity into the netbook market .

A state-backed turnaround fund is likely to decline financial aid for Japan Airlines from Delta Air Lines or American Airlines and limit an alliance to a business tie-up, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Japan's public debt is very high but is not a serious problem in the short-term as private savings are abundant and investors continue to buy government bonds, a senior International Monetary Fund official told the Nikkei newspaper.

LG Electronics Inc, the world's No. 2 TV brand, said on Sunday it aimed to increase its global market share in LCD TVs to 15 percent this year from 11 percent last year by boosting unit sales by 54 percent.

U.S. home loan rates could rise by as much as three-quarters of a percentage point in the spring as the Federal Reserve ends its mortgage bonds purchase program, a top Fed policymaker said in an interview published on Saturday.