IBT Staff Reporter

A pair of the largest U.S. banks are expected to report big losses this week, including write-downs worth tens of billions of dollars due in part to the ongoing global credit crisis, triggered by bad bets in mortgage-related investments.

The number of people subscribing to newspapers may be shrinking as they flock to the Internet, but electronic book readers won't shred the market for ink, paper, glue and binding anytime soon.

Iran, Mideast peace and democracy in the region topped the agenda for President Bush during talks Monday with ally Saudi Arabia. Bush's first visit to the kingdom came as his administration notified Congress of its intent to sell $20 billion in weapons, including precision-guided bombs, to the Saudis. The announcement was timed to coincide with the president's arrival in the Saudi capital.

Apple Inc and China Mobile have called off talks to launch the U.S. firm's popular iPhones in China, dashing investor speculation that the device will hit store shelves soon and sending China Mobile shares down.

U.S. President George W. Bush accused Iran on Sunday of threatening security around the world by backing militants and urged his Gulf Arab allies to confront this danger before it is too late.

Goggle launched an updated interface on Friday for the Apple iPhone which acts as a Google Control Panel, making it easy to switch between their popular services.

Chrysler LLC and Nissan Motor Co. announced a partnership on Friday for the South American market which calls for cars produced by Nissan but sold under the Chrysler brand name.

Food products from cloned animals such as milk and meat were qualified safe to eat by the European Food Safety Authority, a move which could bring those controversial products closer to the market.

The One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC) will broaden the distribution of its low-cost laptops, originally made for children in developing nations, to destitute students in the United States.

Airline travelers were exposed to identity theft by a U.S. government web site meant to help them remove their names from a security no-fly list, according to a new report.

Citigroup is expected to get investments from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the government-run China Development Bank and other investors that could total between $8 billion and $10 billion, according to a report.

Hollywood striking writers said Friday they will not picket the Golden Globe Awards after the organizers of the event announced it will take control from TV network NBC and will instead, have the live event broadcast to all media.

With TV woes, so the Super Bowl couldn't come at a better time.

The world's largest energy consumer laid down ambitious new mandates for alternative fuels

Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will inject new cash into Citi

Agricultural products were left affected on Friday after a U.S. government report showed a dip in production and failed to meet the global demand for food and biofuels.

Oil prices declined for the third consecutive day on Friday on fear and speculation that the U.S. – the top oil consumer- is heading towards an economic recession, thereby weakening demand for the commodity.

Macworld Expo in San Francisco will be a time for the whole world to see new releases from different companies supporting Apple's Mac, including announcements from Apple itself.

Advanced Micro Devices said on Friday that it has changed the release date of its upcoming desktop processor in an attempt to better serve the market.

UPS Inc. announced on Friday that it will increase the general rate of about 5.4 percent on non-contractual shipments in the U.S. and Canada.

NASA announced on Friday that space shuttle Atlantis will be launched February 7, after a delay due to technical problems.

Gold futures topped the $900 mark on Friday, closing higher for a fourth session as investors speculate the Fed will further cut interest rates in a bid to save the economy from a recession, while the dollar also weakened and boosted investment appeal of the precious metal.

Oil prices on Friday declined amid fears that the US economy is headed for a recession that may result into decreased demand for oil despite US being the largest energy consumer.

Stocks dropped on Friday as slowing consumer spending and write-downs in the financial sector sent the Dow Jones into triple digit losses. With earnings expected in coming weeks, investors are increasingly worried about how major banks and brokerages have fared in the most recent quarter after suffering losses related sub-prime mortgages.

Amid a great deal of hype and fanfare, Tata Motors, frontrunners in the acquisition race for Ford Motor's British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, unveiled its People's Car rechristened Nano, that meets Euro 4 emission and safety norms in the India Auto Expo 2008, New Delhi, Thursday, Jan. 10.

In the early days of Countrywide Financial Corp, competitors underestimated Angelo Mozilo, the mortgage lender's founder.

MBIA Inc., the world's largest bond insurer, said it has $9 billion of exposure to the riskiest mortgage debt, $900 million more than the company disclosed about three weeks ago.

Merrill Lynch is expected to suffer $15 billion in losses stemming from soured mortgage investments, almost twice the company's original estimate, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The boom has been driven as much by new strategies as by those wanting a repeat of last year's success.