IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd plans to propose legislation that would merge four bank agencies into one super-regulator, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

Thousands of people marched through the streets of Zaragoza in northeast Spain on Saturday to protest against Canada's Magna acquiring 55 percent of General Motors' Opel, Spanish media reported.

Patty Loveless' 2001 bluegrass album, Mountain Soul, holds a special place in her heart. Influenced by the music she grew up with in rural Kentucky, the album resonated strongly with the country singer's fans even as it broadened her audience.

The Blueprint 3 by Jay-Z might be the week's No. 1 album. But the other major September 8 hip-hop release, Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx . . . Pt. II, can still claim a victory.

In the midst of its first reunion tour in the summer of 2006, veteran hard rock act Alice in Chains played to a crowd of 30,000 at Portugal's Super Bock Super Rock festival. As the band performed a set of its classic cuts, a handful of fans unfurled a 25-foot-long sign that read, Alice in Chains Get Born Again.

He gained fame as one of China's best dancers and was at the center of an international crisis, but the real story of Li Cunxin may never have been told if it had not been for Li sitting down to write it.

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar issued a statement Saturday telling people of the West not to listen to U.S. President Barack Obama's justifications of war and vowing to defeat NATO troops like other invaders of history.

Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group Inc. are among those discussing the creation of a cash reserve to blunt a run on money markets like the one that occurred last September, according to a report by Bloomberg on Saturday.

Members of the union representing more than 10,000 workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co have ratified a four-year labor deal, Goodyear and the United Steelworkers union said on Saturday.

Grammy Award-winning rock duo The White Stripes for years have maintained an air of mystery around them, but a new film documentary offers a rare insider's look at the pair, who often toy with their public image.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire won the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival Saturday, giving the Oprah Winfrey-produced film some early momentum heading into Oscar awards season.

The Federal Reserve plans new rules on bank pay to curb the type of excessive risk-taking that sparked the global financial crisis and triggered international demands for action.

Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook stepped down on Friday from his post to pursue new adventures after privately telling staff he felt he no longer fits in at the No. 1 U.S. entertainment company.

Soft drink maker Pepsico Inc said on Saturday that Michael White, vice chairman and PepsiCo International chief executive, would retire later this year after nearly 20 years with the company.

Shareholders in Italian bank Credito Valtellinese approved on Saturday an issue of a convertible bond worth up to 625 million euros ($918.8 million) by June 30, 2010, under its capital strengthening plans.

Equatorial Guinea seeks steady oil output of 500,000 barrels per day but not necessarily membership in OPEC, the African nation's oil minister Owono Edu Marcelino said Friday.

Vivendi appears likely to sell its 20 percent stake in General Electric's NBC Universal this year, paving the way for a possible initial public offering of the studio in 2010, sources told the New York Times on Friday.

Kerry Group sees Kraft Foods Inc's bid for Britain's Cadbury as the potential start of a wider consolidation wave with rich pickings for the Irish food group, its chief executive said on Saturday.

Mining giant BHP Billiton plans to use part of a cash surplus of around U.S.$18 billion to fund a round of acquisitions, possibly involving some large rivals, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Microsoft Corp has approved a proposal to allow shareholders to vote on its executives' compensation, as U.S. corporations' pay policies come under scrutiny in the wake of the financial crisis.

Poland's treasury may want the country's largest chemical group Pulawy to pay more than 25 percent of its 2008/2009 profit in dividends, Adam Leszkiewicz, the deputy treasury minister, was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Deutsche Lufthansa is aiming for an agreement with Scandinavian SAS by the end of 2009 on the stake it does not already own in Britain's bmi airline, management board member Stefan Lauer told a German magazine.

Verenex Energy Inc, a Canadian oil producer focused on Libya, said on Friday it had entered into an agreement to be bought by a Libyan sovereign wealth fund, after the collapse of a deal reached with China.

Volkswagen's unit Audi expects to reach its unit sales target for China two years earlier than previously planned, Audi's head of sales told industry publication Automobilwoche.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, expects revenue in the fourth quarter to grow compared to the current three-month period, local media reported on Saturday, citing company chairman Morris Chang.

Hungary may relaunch a tender to allow a fourth mobile phone operator into the market in the 900 MHz frequency next year, the daily Magyar Nemzet reported on Saturday.

Saturday September 19 marks Talk like a pirate day, which is about talking like a pirate the whole day.

Vokswagen (VOWG.DE), Europe's largest carmaker, is expected to take a stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor by the end of 2009, German industry publication Automobilwoche report, citing an unnamed Suzuki executive.

Solar thermal company BrightSource Inc has dropped plans to build a solar power plant in the Mojave Desert, losing a battle with environmentalists and a U.S. senator who want to preserve the surrounding area.