IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks rose on Monday as data showed the services sector expanded after about a year of contraction and on positive broker comments on big bank stocks.

The G30, a group of prominent bankers, policymakers and economists, called on Monday for sweeping reforms to the International Monetary Fund, warning that the impetus for change would wane as pain from the financial crisis fades.

Foreign and Afghan forces launched an assault on Monday against a group of Taliban in an area of eastern Afghanistan where the militants killed eight American soldiers at the weekend, an official said.

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it rejected an appeal by former Qwest Communications International Inc Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio of his insider trading conviction on the grounds that he did not get a fair trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it rejected an appeal by former Qwest Communications International Inc Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio of his insider trading conviction on the grounds that he did not get a fair trial.

Afghanistan's U.N.-backed election watchdog will treat presidential candidates as equally likely to be guilty of vote fraud in suspicious cases, new rules issued on Monday show, a move that may ensure a win for Hamid Karzai.

Rescue workers used sandbags to stop a raging river from breaching its embankment near a southern Indian city on Monday as floods triggered by heavy rains over the last week left 2.5 million people homeless.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to the United States next month and address both houses of Congress, the government said on Monday

China pledged to strengthen bonds with isolated North Korea, nudging it to improve its economy, while reports of Indian and South Korean swoops on North Korean shipping underscored strains behind a recent easing of tension.

The Obama administration wants to ensure multilateral development banks have adequate resources, but any capital increase must be tied to reforms, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday.

Natural gas producer Open Range Energy Corp said third-quarter production was higher sequentially and it planned to drill two additional wells at its Alberta property in the first half of 2010.

A suicide bomber dressed as a paramilitary soldier attacked an office of the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) in the Pakistani capital on Monday, killing five staff members, government and U.N. officials said.

TransAlta Corp said on Monday it has reached a deal to buy renewable energy producer Canadian Hydro Developers after raising its takeover offer to C$5.25 a share.

Wealth managers around the world have learnt the hard way that they need to become more transparent but this will push up costs, prompting further consolidation in the crisis-hit sector.

The U.S. Supreme Court will again consider gun rights and decide an important case that could loosen restrictions on corporation spending in political campaigns in its new term beginning on Monday.

PepsiCo Inc said on Monday it will combine the North American operations of Pepsi Bottling Group Inc and PepsiAmericas Inc in a new bottling unit to be run by Pepsi Bottling's chief executive, Eric Foss.

Indian telecom Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is part of a consortium that is seeking a controlling stake in Kuwaiti telecom Zain, the chairman of the state-run firm was quoted as saying in a media report.

Hundreds of striking workers forced U.S. auto maker General Motors Co [GM.UL] to shut its Thai assembly plant on Monday, company and union officials said, raising the stakes in a pay dispute with management.

Nighthawk Energy Plc said on Monday it expected significant contribution from its Revere project in the United States in terms of reserves, production and cash flow, sending its shares up as much as 8.8 percent.

Goldman Politics; Impressions Off the Mark; New Buyer for Volvo?

Kate Gosselin appeared on NBC's Today Show on Monday claiming that Jon Gosselin withdrew $230,000 from $231,000 of their joint bank account in about one month.

Care about the future of your feet? You might want to consider your shoe choices carefully, new research shows.

Days before the swine flu vaccine becomes available, more than half of U.S. adults say they will get the vaccine for themselves and 75 percent will get it for their children, according to a survey released on Friday.

Norway has retained its status as the world's most desirable country to live in, according to U.N. data released on Monday, which ranks sub-Saharan African states afflicted by war and HIV/AIDS as the least attractive places.

Despite earlier health agency warnings, there is no strong evidence that the anti-smoking drug Chantix raises the risk of suicidal thoughts or depression compared to other stop-smoking products, researchers reported Thursday in the British Medical Journal.

A U.S.-led group has entered the race to buy Ford Motor Co's Volvo cars unit, the Financial Times reported, in a challenge to China's Geely Automotive which last month confirmed its interest in the loss-making Swedish carmaker.

A new compound can quickly counteract the action of an emerging class of drugs, offering a way to reverse the drugs' actions if a patient develops serious side effects, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

China Real Estate Information Corp, a provider of real estate information and consulting services, is planning to raise up to $248 million in a U.S.-listed initial public offering set for Oct 16.

Europe will this week launch a campaign to triple funding for energy research to 8 billion euros ($11.7 billion) a year in a technology race with Japan and the United States, a draft document shows.