IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. commercial property prices plunged for a second straight month in May as distressed transactions weighed, but the pace of decline may signal a bottoming process, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

After a few days in Prague, I had toured much of the city, but hadn't seen the city at night. I asked the strange old resident of the hostel (doesn't every hostel have its strange old resident?) Steve, where the best place to see...

LaSalle Investment Management on Monday said investor sentiment in the European commercial property sector had stabilised, that repricing had found a floor and that there was rising interest in the UK market.

M&T Bank Corp (MTB.N), a large U.S. mid-Atlantic regional bank, on Monday posted better-than-expected results even as increased credit losses and writedowns led to a 75 percent decline in second-quarter profit.

The U.S. housing market is showing signs of stabilization, according to inventory data released on Monday by national real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

Commercial mortgages at U.S. banks have been failing at the fastest rate in nearly 20 years, the Wall Street Journal said, citing its own analysis.

I continued to sweat while the sun began to set over the coast of southern Mexico. Although nighttime was near, the sweltering heat refused to leave with the disappearing daylight.

Stocks climbed on Monday, lifted on expectations that lender CIT Group Inc would be able to avoid bankruptcy.

The United States and India said on Monday they had agreed on a defense pact that takes a major step toward allowing the sale of sophisticated U.S. arms to the South Asian nation as it modernizes its military.

Hasbro Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday, citing strong demand for its movie-themed toys, and said its cable TV deal would cost it less than originally thought.

CIT Group Inc has clinched $3 billion of emergency financing from bondholders, keeping the struggling lender out of bankruptcy, a person close to the matter said.

European Union officials visiting Azerbaijan protested on Monday at the arrest of two opposition bloggers, a case seized on by rights groups concerned over shrinking freedoms in the oil-producing state.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday as troubled lender CIT Group Inc is expected to close a deal with bondholders that could remove uncertainty and point to a healthier financial sector.

Halliburton Co posted a higher-than-expected profit on Monday, lifting its shares, but the world's second-largest oil services company warned that North American natural gas markets would stay weak throughout 2009.

EMC Corp, the biggest maker of corporate data storage gear, said it has acquired a majority stake in Data Domain Inc and expects to complete the acquisition of the company by month's end.

An invisibility cloak that will protect buildings from earthquakes may very soon become a reality, according to researchers at the University of Liverpool.

Jarden Corp , maker of Sunbeam appliances and other home products, said on Monday it expects to meet or exceed analysts' profit and sales expectations when it reports second-quarter results later this week, sending its shares up 1.5 percent.

The European Commission is to hold a hearing on September 7 for interested parties to comment on Google's deal with publishers to make millions of books available online and its impact on EU writers' rights.

Apple iPhone can now be used to order pizza with the new Pizza Hut iPhone App.

Stocks rose on Monday, but were off session highs, after CIT Group Inc clinched a deal with bondholders that removed some uncertainty from a recovering financial sector.

For Danish film director Lars von Trier, the outrage that greeted Antichrist at the Cannes festival in May was music to his ears.

ITV is promising exclusive unseen footage of Michael Jackson from the private collection of the singer's friend Uri Geller in a forthcoming documentary, My Friend Michael Jackson: Uri's Story, its production and distribution division said Friday.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc said U.S. health regulators accepted for review the company's response on its experimental cancer drug, Zevalin, as a Class 1 submission -- which typically means the regulators would review the drug within 60 days.

Honduras' political rivals were on a collision course on Monday after negotiations collapsed and deposed President Manuel Zelaya vowed to return home despite warnings from a defiant de facto government.

China's CPI Mengdong Energy Group, the parent of smelter HMHJ Aluminum, has agreed to import 2.5 million tonnes of alumina from international trading house Trafigura Group, trading sources said on Monday.

China will maintain a basically stable yuan at a reasonable and balanced level, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in a reiteration of the country's long-standing description of its exchange rate policy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would not take orders over Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, rejected on Sunday a U.S. demand to halt plans to build more homes for Jews in the disputed area.

Chinese iron ore miner Lung Ming, partly owned by private equity firm Hopu and Singapore's state investor Temasek, plans to list shares in Hong Kong this year to raise up to $1 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the plan said.

India's Tata Steel and Suzlon Energy Ltd launched global depositary share offers on Monday to raise a combined $575 million, sources said, leaning on a share market rally and rising foreign appetite for Indian offers.