IBT Staff Reporter

Anglo-French property investor Hammerson said on Monday it has sold a Paris office building to a client of Invesco for 84.5 million euros, about 14 percent below book value.

For the first time in two years, the U.S. economy may have seen a month in which more jobs were created than destroyed.

A top White House official said on Sunday the plot to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day exposed errors but he played down the need for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. security system.

A young Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a U.S. plane on Christmas Day was not deeply religious when he arrived in Yemen in 2004 but evolved into a devoted follower of Islam, a former teacher said.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave no indication on Monday of any resumption soon of peace talks with Israel, despite optimism of progress voiced by officials on both sides. Abbas met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, but did not make any comment at a brief news conference about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal for an Egyptian-hosted summit with Abbas.Israel, Egypt and the United States wa...

U.S. stocks jumped on Monday after data showed a fifth straight month of expansion in the manufacturing sector and semiconductor stocks gained on a brokerage upgrade of Intel.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday ordered parliament to suspend a winter break so that it can vet and vote on new cabinet nominees after lawmakers rejected over two thirds of his original candidates.

Nigeria described on Monday as unfair its inclusion alongside Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen on a list of countries whose air travellers will face tighter screening on journeys to the United States.

Yemeni forces fought al Qaeda militants on Monday, killing at least two they said were behind security threats which forced the U.S. embassy and other foreign missions to close.

A U.S. judge on Monday rejected a request to consider reducing the prison sentence of a key informant in the tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG, and he ordered former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld to start serving his 40-month sentence as scheduled this Friday.

Iran said on Monday that several foreigners conducting psychological warfare against the clerical system were arrested in last month's bloody clashes between opposition supporters and security forces.

Financial markets kicked off 2010 on an upbeat note on Monday with world stocks driven close to 15-month highs by hopes of a sustainable economic recovery.

U.S. stocks moved up at the open on Monday, the first trading day of 2010, on a rise in crude oil and other commodity prices and ahead of data expected to show expansion in the manufacturing sector.

Mexico's peso firmed sharply on Monday, tracking gains in the euro after a purchasing managers' survey in Europe confirmed the region's manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest rate in 21 months

Whether Europe's most troubled economies have the political will to tackle record deficits will preoccupy investors in Western Europe in 2010, along with Britain's election and potential overspill from emerging market crises.

Economic Indicators in Germany from January 4

The dollar fell on Monday, reversing earlier gains on caution ahead of upcoming U.S. data, which left investors wary of pushing the currency up further after it earlier hit a four-month high versus the yen.

Oil rose to $81 a barrel on Monday, the highest in more than two months, on news that Russia has halted oil supplies to Belarus and on cold weather in the United States.

Dubai opened the world's tallest structure in a glitzy ceremony meant to put a brave face on crushing debt woes, leading some to wonder whether the Burj Dubai is the emirate's crowning glory or its last hurrah.

The U.S. Justice Department is considering whether to ask a judge to reduce the jail sentence of Bradley Birkenfeld, the key informant in the U.S. tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG, the New York Times said, citing a person briefed on the matter.

Novartis seeks tighter Alcon grip; Whistleblower reprieve? Asian factories rise

Chinese police arrested thousands in a drive against Internet pornography throughout 2009, officials said, vowing a deepening crackdown that critics say is being used to tighten overall censorship.

Started at the height of the economic boom and built by some 12,000 laborers, the world's tallest building will open on Monday in Dubai as the glitzy emirate seeks to rekindle optimism after its financial crisis.

A dismal job market, a crippled real estate sector and hobbled banks will keep a lid on U.S. economic growth over the coming decade, some of the nation's leading economists said on Sunday.

U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday, as crude oil prices rose on jitters over an oil dispute between Russia and Belarus and as Novartis moved to buy eye care group Alcon in a $39 billion deal.

More than 43,000 Malaysians protested online over a court ruling allowing a Catholic paper to use the word Allah to describe the Christian God, signaling growing Islamic anger in this mostly Muslim Southeast Asian country.

Factories in Asia stepped up production in December, with China's output growing at its fastest pace on record, suggesting economic activity is gathering pace in the region that is leading the global recovery.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange successfully launched a high-speed trading system on Monday to better compete with major global rivals in the growing field of automated trading.

Chipmaker Freescale Semiconductor Inc is staking its claim on the tablet computer market, an emerging product category that will generate plenty of interest in 2010.