IBT Staff Reporter

Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards on Monday threatened to crack down on street protests after opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi called on supporters to stage more demonstrations over the disputed June 12 election.

The U.S. recession is taking a bite out of national brand loyalty in products ranging from Advil pain reliever and Green Giant frozen vegetables to Jif peanut butter, according to a study released on Monday.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development added to a grim outlook from the World Bank on Monday, saying major economies will contract throughout 2009 and the problem of unemployment will linger.

Shares in Anglo American Plc jumped as much as 12 percent on Monday after rival Xstrata Plc sought talks about a merger of equals to better compete in a consolidating mining sector.

Walgreen Co posted a slightly lower quarterly profit as shoppers remained focused on buying only necessities.

Wall Street was poised for a lower open on Monday as investors assessed the potential strength of an economic recovery ahead of a round of key data this week.

Debt-laden Norwegian solar material supplier Renewable Energy Corp said most of its customers on long-term contracts were looking to agree lower wafer prices while module prices could fall 30 percent this year, sending its shares lower on Monday.

The Australian parliament's upper-house Senate began debating plans for the government's carbon trading scheme on Monday with little sign the package of 11 bills will pass.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs underwent a liver transplant operation about two months ago and is expected to return to work by the end of June, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Oil dropped below $69 a barrel on Monday pressured by a stronger dollar and weaker European equities, but attacks on the oil industry in top African exporter Nigeria limited losses.

Oil fell toward $69 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session's drop of more than 2 percent, as bearish sentiment over gasoline markets in the United States continued to dominate investors' concerns.

World stocks slipped on Monday while government bonds and the dollar rose as a decline in oil prices below $70 a barrel and caution ahead of this week's data and Federal Reserve meeting weighed on risky assets.

Xstrata wants talks with mining rival Anglo American about a proposed merger of equals worth about $68 billion, seeking increased scale and cost synergies, Xstrata said on Sunday.

Chinese Internet users are calling on fellow web surfers to stay offline on July 1, the debut of a controversial software filter that critics say the Chinese government is using to tighten censorship.

The Federal Reserve is considering creating a utility to replace the Wall Street banks that handle U.S. repo market transactions, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

A quarter of U.S. employers have eliminated matching contributions to employee 401 retirement plans since September to save money amid the economy's downturn, according to research released on Monday.

Asian stocks rose on Monday, with Chinese bank stocks getting a boost on hopes lending will stay strong, while U.S. Treasury yields were flat before a weekly record of $104 billion in new debt hits the market.

U.S. billionaire Len Blavatnik is planning to file a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase on Monday, accusing the bank of mismanaging an investment account that held $1 billion in assets owned by Blavatnik's industrial holding company, Access Industries, the New York Times said.

Japan's Nikkei stock average extended gains on Monday to rise 0.9 percent as investors were heartened by a broad rise in Asian shares, with car battery maker GS Yuasa Corp rebounding after a sell-off.

Jack Welch, the former chief executive of General Electric Co, is buying a stake in an online university and will take an active role in planning curriculum, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Asian stocks edged up on Monday, supported by buying of defensive sectors, while the U.S. dollar rose on caution ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting this week when policymakers may extend programmes to keep borrowing costs low.

T-Mobile USA will begin selling a new smartphone using Google Inc's Android operating software in August, facing off against high-end devices such as Apple's latest iPhone and the Palm Pre.

National Australia Bank Ltd will pay $660 million for most of British insurer Aviva Plc's Australian businesses to become the country's dominant investment platform provider and insurance underwriter.

Drug manufacturers will offer some $80 billion in prescription discounts for Medicare recipients under a deal unveiled on Saturday, which could boost President Barack Obama as he pushes to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system.

Powerhouse Hollywood director Michael Bay, who returns to theaters worldwide on Wednesday with a Transformers sequel, has blasted the marketing efforts of the film's studio, Paramount Pictures.

As an engineering student in the 1960s, Takeo Fukui picked the analysis of nitrogen dioxide emissions as his senior thesis with one goal in mind: joining Honda Motor to get a foothold in the world of motor racing.

A hunt by investors for a bright spot in the global economic downturn has led to the farm.

Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi urged supporters to continue protests over the re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a direct challenge to the Islamic Republic's leadership.

At first glance, Spotify isn't much different from other on-demand streaming music services. It includes roughly the same library of songs, pays the same per-stream licensing fees for music and contends with the same poor ad-sales environment.