UNITED STATES

President Barack Obama told top U.S. bankers on Monday they owed it to the country to help lift the economy out of crisis by lending more money to small businesses in need and embracing financial reforms.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday, sending the Nasdaq up more than 1 percent, as the appetite for riskier assets returned, following news of Abu Dhabi's $10 billion rescue of Dubai, and Exxon Mobil Corp's planned takeover of natural gas supplier XTO Energy Inc .

A planned meeting of diplomats from major powers on Iran's nuclear program will not take place this year although discussions will continue by telephone, the State Department said on Monday.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday as Abu Dhabi's $10 billion in aid to help Dubai avoid default eased concerns, and a takeover deal by Exxon Mobil Corp raised optimism about mergers and acquisitions.

Google Inc will sell a version of its own-branded cellphone for a reduced price to U.S. consumers who agree to a service contract from Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA, a source familiar with the matter said.

Charles Schwab Corp expects earnings per share in the current quarter to be 2 cents to 4 cents lower than in the third quarter, due to lower interest rates and slower trading in recent weeks, sending its shares down 2.7 percent.

The town of Livingstone, Zambia, near Victoria Falls, was named after Doctor David Livingstone, the missionary born in Blantyre, Scotland, where I once lived as a child. It is illustrative of how much the world has changed, in such a relatively short time, that it was a mere 150 years since he had become

Bankrupt petrochemicals company LyondellBasell has filed an amended reorganisation plan with a U.S. court proposing a $2.8 billion rights issue as it awaits a possible bid from Indian Reliance Industries.

The United States pledged on Monday to contribute $85 million to a $350 million multinational fund aimed at speeding up renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in poor countries.

U.S. oil demand through 2035 is not expected to return to the peak levels reached before fuel consumption fell sharply due to high petroleum prices and the recession, the head of the Energy Information Administration said on Monday.

On a recent trip to Honduras, the big news was the current political situation (the ousting of President Zelaya, a move opposed by a vocal minority), which prompted the US State Department to issue a

President Barack Obama told top U.S. bankers on Monday they owed the country their help in lifting the economy out of crisis and implored them to lend more money and get behind financial reforms.

ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM), betting that demand for natural gas in the U.S. will grow, has struck a $31 billion all-stock deal to gain control of XTO Energy, Inc (NYSE:XTO).

The world's first commercial mobile network using upcoming LTE technology opened on Monday in the capitals of Norway and Sweden, ahead of schedule.

Major British and U.S. companies are focusing on a return to revenue growth in 2010 over cost-cutting, and IT is central to their recovery strategies, according to a survey by consultants Gartner.

President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said on Sunday that the United States is a long way from the point where merit trumps background in higher education, adding that scholarship assistance is crucial to leveling the playing field.

President Barack Obama planned to get tough with executives from top U.S. banks on Monday and tell them that they must help lift the country out of the economic crisis they helped to create.

Shares of Rockwell Automation Inc rose as much as 3.6 percent to a new 52-week high on Monday after a J.P. Morgan analyst said the maker of factory-control systems could be a good fit within General Electric Co's industrial lineup.

Toyota Motor Corp will begin selling affordable plug-in hybrid cars in 2011, upping the ante on General Motors and Nissan Motor as they aim to take the lead in the field of rechargeable cars.

EU regulators signaled they could clear Oracle Corp's $7 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc , after the U.S. software company promised measures to ease competition concerns.

U.S. stocks gained on Monday on relief that Abu Dhabi's $10 billion aid would help neighboring Dubai avoid default, and a takeover deal by oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil Corp fed optimism about the growth of mergers and acquisitions.