IBT Staff Reporter

GenTek Inc, a U.S. maker of specialty chemicals and engine components, said on Monday it has agreed to a takeover by a unit of private equity firm American Securities for $411 million.

U.S. agribusiness giant Bunge Ltd heads a list of potential joint venture partners for Australia's AWB Ltd, because of ties fostered by some Australian staff once employed by AWB, industry sources said.

Pope Benedict, ending a trip to this highly secular nation, said on Monday the fall of communists who tried to erase religion was proof that God cannot be excluded from public life.

Myer, Australia's largest department store chain, plans to raise up to $2 billion in a share offering that will test investor appetite for retail stocks and may encourage other IPOs in the sector.

Chinese state-owned Sinochem bid $2.5 billion for Australian farm chemicals group Nufarm Ltd on Monday, looking to gain a global footprint in a deal that could again test investment ties between China and Australia.

Oil edged above $66 a barrel on Monday, rebounding after an earlier decline which extended last week's 8.4 percent slide, as the dollar lost ground and stock markets moved higher.

After his efforts at diplomacy on the international stage last week, President Barack Obama faces some particularly daunting foreign policy decisions about the Afghan war, a nuclear Iran and an elusive Middle East peace.

MILAN - Italian renewable energy company TerniEnergia is set to exceed its 2009 target for new solar installations and may review 2010 and 2011 goals aiming to expand in the rapidly growing market, its chairman told Reuters.

U.S. stocks jumped on Monday as more merger and acquisition activity in the last days of the third quarter encouraged investors following three sessions of losses.

China's prime minister will visit reclusive North Korea early next week for a trip that could help revive talks with global powers stalled for nearly a year on ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

Independent energy company RAM Energy Resources Inc on Monday said its commercial lenders reaffirmed its existing borrowing base of $175 million, following a scheduled semi-annual redetermination.

An experimental AIDS vaccine that appears to be the first to protect people was mired for years in controversy, and credit for its success must go to Thailand where the trial was conducted, experts said.

Ferrellgas Partners LP posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss on lower propane sales.For the fourth quarter ended July 31, the company posted a net loss of $34.7 million, or 51 cents a unit, compared with a loss of $38.4 million, or 61 cents a unit, a year ago.

Dominion Resources Inc's 556-megawatt Kewaunee nuclear power unit in Wisconsin was shut by early Monday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its power reactor status report.

Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has requested a meeting with Western diplomats to discuss sanctions imposed on the country, her party said on Monday.

The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan planned to offer options for policymakers to try to stem Taliban gains, including sending up to 30,000 to 40,000 additional combat troops and trainers, according to defense and congressional officials.

Honduras' de facto government on Monday resisted pressure from opponents and the international community over ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who for a week has been holed up inside the Brazilian embassy seeking a return to power.

Skate and snow-boarding inspired retailer Zumiez Inc lifted its third-quarter earnings outlook, citing better-than-planned sales and product margins.

Iran test-fired missiles on Monday which a commander said could reach any regional target, flexing its military muscle ahead of this week's crucial talks with major powers worried about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Medical products maker Covidien said it agreed to buy Aspect Medical Systems Inc in a deal valued at about $210 million to boost its product offerings and add Aspect's brain monitoring technology to its portfolio.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives vowed Monday to seal a coalition deal, including tax cuts, with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) within a month after winning Germany's election.

Xerox Corp plans to buy Affiliated Computer Services Inc in a $6.4 billion cash-and-stock deal that expands the copier company into outsourcing and data center management.

Oil traded around $66 a barrel on Monday, steadying after an earlier decline which extended last week's 8.4 percent slide, as the U.S. dollar lost ground and stock markets moved higher.

Xerox Corp. agreed to the acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services Inc. for $6.4 billion marking its biggest purchase to date.

Apple Inc said on Monday that downloads from its iTunes applications store had passed 2 billion and that it now has more than 85,000 apps available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

U.S. healthcare companies Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson announced deals worth almost 5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) with European rivals on Monday aimed at securing vaccines and other products key to future growth.

Drugmaker Merck & Co has gained rights to sell and distribute CSL Ltd's seasonal flu vaccine in the United States under an agreement announced by the companies on Monday.

Film director Roman Polanski, arrested in Switzerland over a U.S. charge of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, will fight extradition to the United States, his lawyer said on Monday.

The mobile music landscape is very much a study in good news, bad news.