IBT Staff Reporter

Making the shortlist for the best documentary feature Oscar is icing on the cake for Valentino: The Last Emperor.

Pope Benedict's decision to move his controversial wartime predecessor Pius XII closer to sainthood has put a cloud over his planned visit next month to Rome's synagogue, with some fearing it risks being cancelled.

Following is the view from Reuters Asia editors on the news that is likely to matter most this week:

British metal veterans Def Leppard are getting animated about their career.

U.S. researchers have discovered antiviral proteins in cells that naturally fight off influenza infections, a finding that may lead to better ways to make vaccines and protect people against the flu.

Sanofi-Aventis is to buy U.S. consumer healthcare group Chattem Inc for around $1.9 billion, in a deal which will give the French drugmaker over-the-counter presence in the huge United States market.

ConAgra Foods Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, as increased marketing and product improvements boosted results in its consumer foods business, and it raised its full year outlook.

John Demjanjuk sat impassively while Holocaust survivors on Monday recalled the horrors of Nazi Germany at his trial on charges of helping to force 27,900 Jews into gas chambers in 1943.

Keira Knightley has chosen well for her West End stage debut as a spoiled young movie star who is the center of attention in Martin Crimp's rhymed update of Moliere's The Misanthrope.

It's not enough to sleep it off after a night of drinking.

Myanmar's Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal against the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced in August to a further 18 months in detention for breaking a security law.

Combining artificial sweeteners with the real thing boosts the stomach's secretion of a hormone that makes people feel full and helps control blood sugar, new research shows.

Autism, a brain disorder that interferes with communication and social skills, affected an estimated one in 110 American 8-year-olds in 2006, according to a federal study released Friday.

NextMedia Group Inc filed for bankruptcy protection under a pre-arranged plan that will hand over control of the U.S. radio station operator and outdoor advertising company to certain creditors, court papers showed.

Huge crowds of Iranians turned out for the funeral of leading dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in the holy Shi'ite city of Qom on Monday and some chanted anti-government slogans, websites reported.

Specialty food maker TreeHouse Foods Inc (THS.N) agreed to buy health food products maker Sturm Foods from private equity firm HM Capital Partners for $660 million to strengthen its private label presence in the hot cereal and powdered soft drink mix categories.

Ultra Petroleum Corp (UPL.N) said it would pay about $400 million to an unnamed private company to buy a stake in the burgeoning U.S. Marcellus Shale region, the latest oil and natural gas explorer to expand its footprint in the area.

State-owned Dubai World did not ask creditors for a standstill on $22 billion (13.6 billion pounds) of debt at a meeting on Monday, adding to uncertainty for investors who have been in the dark for weeks and hurting local bank shares.

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (OGXI.O) has entered into a licensing deal with Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.O) (TEVA.TA) for its cancer therapy, and said Teva will make an equity investment in the U.S. company.

The White House pledged on Sunday to move forward on allowing imports of safe prescription drugs from nations like Canada where they are less expensive, but not in the healthcare reform legislation now before Congress.

Shares of heavy machinery makers Bucyrus International Inc (BUCY.O) and Terex Corp (TEX.N) both rose about 7 percent in early trading on Monday, a day after the companies said Bucyrus would pay $1.3 billion for Terex's mining business.

Dubai World [DBWLD.UL], faced with a $22 billion debt restructuring, told creditors it had $40 billion in total debts and will pitch a standstill proposal in mid-January, a banking source said on Monday.

The London Stock Exchange bought a majority stake in platform rival Turquoise, giving its owners a well-timed exit, aligning its interests with those of big clients and granting it immediate access to pan-European share trading.

Canadian fertilizer producer Agrium Inc (AGU.TO) extended its hostile bid for rival CF Industries (CF.N) on Monday and said it was sure it would have the money needed to complete the purchase.

The tune selection might be different, but otherwise it's the same old song with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, which Fox opens on Wednesday.

World's No. 2 memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor Inc is seen capable of spending a higher-than-expected 2.3 trillion won ($2 billion) in capital expenditures next year, its top shareholder KEB said on Sunday.

Oil held firm above $73 a barrel on Monday after a 1 percent rise in the previous session as Iranian troops partly withdrew from a disputed oil area in Iraq, reducing tensions between two major crude exporters.

Wall Street was set to open higher on Monday on expectations that rising commodity prices and a downtick in the U.S. dollar would boost stocks in the energy and materials sectors and after brokerages upgrades on Alcoa and Intel.

Walgreen Co, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, reported a nearly 20 percent jump in quarterly profit as growth in sales of prescription drugs and flu shots offset consumer cutbacks on discretionary items.