UNITED STATES

The Aussie dollar firmed in local trade yesterday with local equity markets recouping some of Friday's large losses.

Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is engaged to Marc Mezvinsky, the couple confirmed on Friday.

Britain will send 500 more soldiers to Afghanistan in December as part of a broader surge in NATO-led troop levels to tackle worsening violence and train Afghan forces, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday.

Stocks inched lower on Monday with retail shares down after Black Friday and data suggesting weak holiday sales, while data showing expansion in business activity in the Midwest helped to limit losses.

Trade in permits to pollute is largely pointless when compared with the scale of growth in greenhouse gases in China and must be scaled up, one of the carbon market's most senior traders said on Monday.

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NYMEX introduced ASCI contracts earlier this month and said it will launch a physically-deliverable U.S. Gulf sour crude contract early in December. Around the same time, the ICE will launch cash-settled futures contracts tracking ASCI on December 7.

Investors took a dim view of holiday retail sales after a weak Black Friday weekend, with Amazon.com Inc one of the few stocks to rise on hopes it was gaining a greater share of consumer spending.

Germany's biodiesel industry, Europe's largest, is suffering from cheap U.S. imports of the green fuel which evade punitive European Union import duties, industry leaders said on Monday.

Major automakers are expected to report flat U.S. auto sales for November from a year ago -- another sign the industry is on the mend after a bruising downturn that forced extensive restructuring early this year.

U.S. banks have already recognized two-thirds of an estimated $2.1 trillion to $2.6 trillion in credit losses, but prime mortgage and commercial real estate would contribute more to the remaining losses, Goldman Sachs said.

The U.S. manufacturing sector is expected to have grown but at a slower pace in November in a still fragile recovery from the longest recession in decades, according to a Reuters' poll of economists.

Internet games can boost children's interest in mathematics, says a footballing Oxford University professor who plays wearing the prime number 17 and uses dance to prove theorems.

U.S. banks continue to face significant challenges, particularly from rising delinquencies in commercial real estate and commercial loans, a Federal Reserve official said on Monday.

Manufacturing in parts of the United States was picking up steam, data showed on Monday, but jobs were lagging the recovery and consumers remained cautious, economists said.

The winner of Honduras' controversial election called on Latin American governments on Monday to recognize him as president-elect to help pull the country out of a deep political crisis since a coup

A Spanish judge threatened to seize up to $100 million from Banco de Chile and individuals suspected of laundering funds for Augusto Pinochet, including the former Chilean dictator's widow.

Dubai's government said on Monday it was not responsible for the debts of its flagship conglomerate, offering little clarity on a plan to delay billions in debt repayments that has rattled world markets.

U.S. stocks declined moderately on Monday as weak data on holiday retail sales prompted questions about the consumer's ability to spend.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday as investors worried that the holiday shopping season might have gotten off to a tepid start as consumers trimmed purchases over the Thanksgiving Day holiday amid concerns about an uncertain economy.

Tennis star Serena Williams received a record fine of $82,500 for her outburst at this year's US Open and could face suspension from the tournament if she has another major offense in the upcoming two years the Grand Slam committee said Monday.