UNITED KINGDOM

World stocks hit 8-week lows while the yen raced to 18-month peaks versus the dollar on Monday as fears about credit-related losses at financial firms prompted investors to reduce bets on risky trades.

Metals prices slipped on Monday on fears of waning demand, but mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, engaged in a takeover battle, were among the big gainers on the London stock market.

The box office power of Bollywood showed itself this weekend as Saawariya emerged the surprise No. 1 hit internationally, outgrossing Tom Cruise's Lions for Lambs by more than $5 million.

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining group, is considering the sale of one of its largest units, BHP Petroleum, to help finance a hostile takeover of Rio Tinto, the UK Sunday Times newspaper said.

Britain must try to prevent a European Union satellite navigation system from going ahead until its costs, risks and benefits have been thoroughly assessed, lawmakers said on Monday.

The European Union's top diplomat and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator agreed on Sunday to hold a new round of talks on Tehran's disputed atomic ambitions by the end of this month, Iranian news agencies said on Sunday.

Japan's Health Ministry, eager to trim swelling health-care costs, proposed changes to prescription forms on Friday in a bid to boost the use of cheaper generic drugs, sending shares in the nation's generic drug makers soaring.

British bank Barclays Plc categorically denied rumors it was about to announce a $10 billion writedown and see its top management quit, after the market talk sent its shares tumbling over 9 percent. There is absolutely no substance to those rumors, a spokesman for Britain's third biggest bank said when asked about a possible $10 billion writedown.

AXA, Europe's second- biggest insurer, reported a 22.3 percent rise in nine-month group revenue that was boosted by higher sales in countries such as Britain and the United States. Total sales rose to 71.652 billion euros ($105.1 billion).

Marsh & McLennan Cos, one of the world's largest insurance brokers, said on Thursday quarterly profit soared eleven-fold from a sale of its Putnam Investments unit, but operating earnings missed forecasts.

Warner Bros. home entertainment division said on Thursday it was buying UK-based games publisher TT Games, the business behind Traveler's Tales and the LEGO Star Wars series.

The dollar hit record lows versus the euro on Wednesday, knocking major stock markets as General Motors posted its biggest quarterly loss ever which rattled investors already concerned about the U.S. economy.

The makers of a new movie set in London's Bangladeshi community that infuriated community leaders and sparked heated debate about freedom of speech said the protests were unjustified and exaggerated by the media.

From behind a computer keyboard at his London home, student Younes Tsouli used the Internet to spread al Qaeda propaganda, recruit suicide bombers and promote Web sites that encouraged the killing of non-Muslims.

Mattel Inc, the world's largest toymaker, has recalled 155,000 of its products made in Mexico over safety concerns, an official at the company told Reuters on Tuesday.

Central bankers past and present warned on Tuesday of more pain to come for the U.S. economy and that banks worldwide could take several months yet to reveal full losses from U.S. subprime mortgage lending. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and billionaire investor George Soros said the downturn in the U.S. housing market had yet to take its full toll on growth.

Nokia and STMicroelectronics today announced an agreement to deepen their collaboration on the licensing and supply of integrated circuit designs and modem technologies for 3G and its evolution.

The Pakistani government said on Monday it would hold a national election by mid-January, as it came under pressure from the United States for imposing emergency rule and detaining lawyers and opposition politicians.

A Qatari fund has ditched plans for a 10.6 billion-pound ($22 billion) bid for British retailer J Sainsbury, blaming worsening credit markets and the cost of winning support from the firm's pension trustees.

Fear and mistrust gripped Wall Street on Monday after Citigroup's CEO quit in the wake of mounting credit losses and an influential money manager called the subprime mortgage market a $1 trillion problem.

Britain and France rushed to offer reassurance on Monday that their economies and banking systems would ride out global credit turmoil after Citigroup said it could write off $11 billion of subprime mortgage losses.