IBT Staff Reporter

Microsoft Inc announced the launch of its beta Office Live Workspace on Monday, marking its debut onto the already bustling arena of web-based programs.

Top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc said on Monday it was buying core routers from Cisco Systems Inc to upgrade its Internet backbone network, a major win for Cisco amid competition from rival network equipment maker Juniper Networks Inc.

Microsoft Corp said on Monday it would be the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising for the Web site of business television news channel CNBC.

Former President Alberto Fujimori went on trial on Monday on human rights charges that could put him in a Peruvian prison for the rest of his life as supporters and critics held rival demonstrations outside the courtroom.

President Nicolas Sarkozy defended a visit by Muammar Gaddafi on Monday, just hours after his top human rights official said France was not a doormat on which the Libyan leader could wipe off the blood of his crimes.

Oil fell after speculation that U.S. fuel supplies will rise along with warm weather as concern over the economic slowdown grows.

Buyout firm Warburg Pincus has agreed to invest $1 billion in MBIA Inc, bolstering the finances of the world's largest bond insurer amid concern about its ability to pay claims on faltering mortgage-backed bonds. The news lifted the company's sagging shares 16 percent in afternoon trading.

U.S. Treasuries fell on Monday after news of higher than expected home sales and the world’s largest bond insurer, MBIA said it would receive new capital to alleviate concerns over its liquidity.

The euro rose against the dollar and yen on Monday, as investors await that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates Tuesday to boost the economy.

U.S Stocks gained in Monday trading as Swiss bank UBS issued a profit warning and announced a capital injection and investors bet the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its policy meeting on Tuesday.

Lloyds TSB said its underlying profits are on track to grow 11 percent this year but the British bank will take a 200 million pound ($405 million) hit from exposure to credit market problems.

TSX Group Inc will buy the Montreal Exchange Inc in a C$1.3 billion ($1.3 billion) deal that will create an integrated exchange group, the TMX Group Inc, the companies said on Monday.

Dutch financial group ING Groep will miss its goal of entering Japan's retail banking market this year with its ING Direct banking service, but remains on track for a launch with final regulatory approval, the company said on Monday.

India's Tata Motors Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd have submitted revised bids for Ford Motor Co's Jaguar and Land Rover brands, CNBC-TV18 news channel reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

Television executives' nightmare scenarios for 2008 are coming closer to reality as the Hollywood writers strike enters its sixth week Monday.

The ceiling on foreign investment in Chinese securities will be raised to $30 billion from $10 billion, Beijing's foreign exchange regulator said on Sunday ahead of cabinet-level talks with the United States.

Eisai Co Ltd said on Monday it would buy U.S. biotech firm MGI Pharma Inc for $3.9 billion cash to strengthen its cancer treatment pipeline, marking the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese drug maker.

World stock markets are in for their most modest annual gains for years in 2008 thanks to the global credit crunch and an evolving economic slowdown, Reuters polls showed on Monday.

There are three things South Koreans cannot avoid: death, taxes and Samsung.

Global stocks erased early losses on Monday, dollar money market tensions eased and the U.S. currency held near one-month highs against the yen ahead of an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut this week.

Oil hovered above $88 a barrel on Monday, ahead of an expected cut in interest rates this week by the U.S. Federal Reserve to revive economic growth in top oil consumer the United States.

The dollar slipped against most major currencies on Monday, reversing some recent strong gains ahead of an expected U.S. interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this week.

Iran and a team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog started a fresh round of talks on Monday in Tehran to resolve doubts about the Islamic Republic's nuclear work, Iranian media reported.

Stocks headed for a higher open on Monday, with financial shares set to lead gains after news of the latest large capital injection into a major bank by wealthy investors.

Pakistan's dominant party published its election manifesto on Monday a day after its rival, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said his party would take part in the polls raising the prospect of a hung parliament.

Kosovo Albanian leaders said on Monday they will start immediate talks with Western backers towards an independence declaration as the EU came closer to unity in support of the province's drive to secede from Serbia.

France's Lafarge, the world's biggest cement maker, has agreed to buy Egypt's Orascom Cement for 8.8 billion euros ($12.81 billion) to boost its earnings and exposure to high-growth emerging markets.

Japanese memory chip maker Toshiba Corp said on Monday it would make flash-based solid state drives for notebook PCs, as it seeks to create new sources of demand for flash memory chips.

The global real estate market needed the subprime crisis to avoid a bigger and more damagning bubble, experts say.