IBT Staff Reporter

Senator Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party appears to be paying off with a poll on Monday showing him ahead in his 2010 re-election race in Pennsylvania.

Iran will not suspend its disputed nuclear program even if the United States imposes sanctions targeting companies that ship fuel to the Islamic Republic, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday.

The new H1N1 flu virus appears to be fairly widespread in the United States and seems to be hitting mostly younger people, with very few cases reported in people over 50, U.S. health officials said on Sunday.

Survivors of China's devastating earthquake last year face detention and harassment if they protest over collapsed schools, corruption claims and other grievances, Amnesty International said.

Oil prices rose to a five-week high near $54 a barrel on Monday on hopes an easing of the global economic recession would pave the way for a recovery in world energy demand.

An earthquake sent residents running from their homes and shook buildings across oil exporting Venezuela's densely populated coastal region, including the capital Caracas, before dawn on Monday.

A radical overhaul of the car industry moved a step closer on Monday as Fiat's CEO prepared to pitch a bid for Opel to Germany's leaders as part of a planned takeover of General Motors' European assets.

Nepal's Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda resigned on Monday after a crisis sparked by his sacking of the country's army chief, plunging the Himalayan republic into political turmoil.

Greek parliament deputies vote on Monday on a bribery scandal that has rocked the conservative government for months and may prompt a snap election as Greece struggles with a slowing economy and social unrest.

Pakistani forces battled Taliban fighters on Monday as the militants denounced the army and government as U.S. stooges and said a peace pact would end unless the government halted its offensive.

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes rose in March for a second straight month, a private survey showed on Monday, supporting views the housing market was close to hitting a bottom.

U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is finalizing an agreement to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev NV's South Korean brewer Oriental Brewery Co for about $1.8 billion, sources familiar with the situation said.

Mexico announced plans on Monday to send a plane to retrieve dozens of its nationals confined across China, which quarantined them as a protective measure against a deadly new strain of flu.

Offices and businesses stayed closed in Mexico on Monday to try to prevent the spread of a deadly new strain of flu, and authorities said a sharp drop in new cases showed the battle was being won.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday he would reassure Saudi Arabia this week that the kingdom would not suffer from Washington's efforts to improve its relations with Iran.

President Barack Obama on Monday will propose raising billions in new tax revenue by changing tax policies for U.S. firms with overseas operations, according to administration officials familiar with his plan.

At least 27 people, most of them civilians and one a provincial mayor, were killed in a spate of attacks in Afghanistan on Monday, officials said.

The United States has made a formal request to Germany to take in some prisoners held at its military prison in Guantanamo Bay, a spokesman for Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday.

Tyson Foods Inc reported a larger quarterly loss on Monday as a weak economy hurt meat sales and the company had additional income tax expenses.

The Boston Globe and its biggest union are taking a break until later Monday or Tuesday on talks about concessions that parent company The New York Times Co says are crucial to save the newspaper.

Oil prices rose to more than a one-month high on Monday on optimism the global economic recession was easing, spelling a potential recovery in world energy demand.

President Barack Obama presents his strategy for defeating al Qaeda to the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday amid growing U.S. concern it is losing the war and neither is a reliable ally.

President Barack Obama on Monday will propose changing provisions in the tax code that he says encourage U.S. companies to move jobs overseas, as part of a broader package aimed at saving $210 billion over 10 years.

The World Health Organization is likely to raise its flu alert to the top of its six-point scale and declare a pandemic, its director-general indicated in an interview published on Monday.

Sprint Nextel Corp posted a surprise quarterly profit excluding items, thanks to cost cuts and strong growth in a new service where customers pay for calls in advance, sending its shares up 16 percent.

Australia's government put back its much-vaunted carbon-emissions trading scheme by a year on Monday, bowing to industry demands for more relief amid a recession while opening the door to an even deeper long-term reduction.

Bank of America Corp said on Monday it does not have plans to raise $10 billion in common equity, as the Financial Times had reported.

American Electric Power Co Inc (AEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) planned to shut the 690-megawatt Oklaunion coal-fired power station in Texas from May 4-7 for steam turbine and generator repairs, the company told Texas regulators in a report.

Private U.S. company Tang Energy Group said on Friday a Chinese company has agreed to provide $300 million in financing for its wind power projects.