UNITED STATES

Every Thursday night, Lonnie Bishop and Lisa Case have a dinner date. For $5 each, the couple dines on fancy hot dogs served from a food truck parked outside their favorite wine shop in Los Angeles.

Chinese machinery maker Tengzhong is still working to close a deal with General Motors Co to buy the U.S. automaker's Hummer brand after a regulatory setback, Chinese media reported on Monday.

Kraft Foods said it was determined to pursue Britain's Cadbury, which soared in value after it snubbed a $16.7 billion bid from the U.S. group, reinforcing hopes of a broader-based pick-up in merger activity.

Banks in the United States need higher capital than they currently have, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve told a Mumbai conference via satellite on Monday.

Oil prices pushed toward $69 a barrel in thin trade on Monday, with sentiment buoyed by Asian and European equities and by a decision by the G20 to keep economic stimulus measures in place.

Matt Damon stars as a whistleblower at a big U.S. agri-business company in

African leaders will step up calls on Monday for an end to Western sanctions against Zimbabwe and urge South Africa to plead Harare's cause within the Group of 20 rich and developing nations, officials said.

Investors jumped back into equities on Monday, sending world stocks close to their highest level for the year, while the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies as demand for risky assets rose across the board.

A suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into a police checkpoint just outside Iraq's western city of Ramadi on Monday, killing nine people and wounding at least 13, police said.

Five Pakistani soldiers were killed in a land mine blast in the Taliban bastion of South Waziristan on Monday a day after forces killed 33 militants as part of a week-old campaign in the Khyber Pass, officials said.

Israel approved on Monday the building of 455 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, a move opposed by its U.S. ally and Palestinians but which could pave the way for a construction moratorium sought by Washington.

Iran's president snubbed on Monday U.S. President Barack Obama's end-September deadline to talk to world powers on its disputed nuclear program, saying in his opinion discussion on the issue is finished.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has accused the United States of denouncing his friends and family in an effort to undermine his own position and make him more malleable.

Abu Dhabi's state-owned ATIC offered to buy Chartered Semiconductor for $1.8 billion, while major shareholders in Hynix began the sale of a $2.8 billion stake, kickstarting consolidation in a chip sector emerging from its worst ever downturn.

Oil prices pushed toward $69 a barrel in thin trade on Monday, with sentiment buoyed by Asian and European equities and by a decision by the G20 to keep economic stimulus measures in place.

Gold held broadly steady on Monday just shy of $995 per ounce, consolidating stellar gains last week that took it tantalizingly close to the $1,000 psychological level, with buyers encouraged by dollar weakness.

Investors jumped back into equities on Monday, sending world stocks close to their highest level for the year, while the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies as demand for risky assets rose across the board.

Banks in the United States need higher capital than they currently have, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve told a Mumbai conference via satellite on Monday.

A White House environmental policy adviser who specialized in green jobs resigned on Sunday after an uproar over his previous affiliation with a September 11 conspiracy group.

The Beatles take a step closer to selling their music online on Wednesday with the simultaneous release of the band's re-mastered catalog and the MTV video game The Beatles: Rock Band.

Food Titans Deal; Breaking Up AIG; Market Surge Post G20