IBT Staff Reporter

The United States and Europe must summon the political courage to overcome their debt crises or global economic recovery will be threatened, Chinese official media said on Monday, warning Washington against letting the dollar weaken.

An Ohio man fatally shot seven people and wounded two others before he was shot down by the police

A weekend contest at the world's largest hacking convention in Las Vegas showed one reason why big corporations seem to be such easy prey for cyber criminals: their workers are poorly trained in security.

Finance chiefs from the world's industrial powers pledged on Sunday to take whatever actions were needed to steady financial markets, spooked by the political wrangling in Europe and the United States over slashing their huge budget deficits.

Political and financial leaders gave their first sign of readiness to battle a debt crisis gone global when the European Central Bank signaled on Sunday it would start buying Italian and Spanish debt, a critical move to quell a bond rout that has rocked financial markets.

The European Central Bank said on Sunday it would actively implement its controversial bond-buying programme to fight the euro zone's debt crisis, signaling it will buy Spanish and Italian government bonds to halt financial market contagion.

A downgrade of United States' top-tier credit rating has Wall Street scrambling to figure out the knock-on effects for the financial system, from mortgages to banks to markets that rely on U.S. Treasuries for collateral.

A unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc made a $3.24 billion buyout offer for Transatlantic Holdings Inc, topping two existing rival bids for the reinsurer.

A weekend contest at the world's largest hacking convention in Las Vegas showed one reason why big corporations seem to be such easy prey for cyber criminals: their workers are poorly trained in security.

Germany and France on Sunday reiterated their commitment to implementing the decisions of last month's emergency EU summit, in an effort to restore confidence in turbulent financial markets.

The European Central Bank will intervene decisively on markets to protect Italy and Spain from an accelerating debt crisis, a monetary source said on Sunday, indicating it would buy government bonds of the euro zone's third and fourth biggest economies.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobby group, said on Sunday it disagreed with ratings agency Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating but hoped it would spur Washington to act.

The Euro system of central banks has decided to intervene decisively on markets to respond to the escalating debt crisis, a euro zone monetary source said after a European Central Bank conference call on Sunday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, an expert on the Great Depression, once promised that the central bank would never repeat its 1937 mistake of rushing to tighten monetary policy too soon and prolonging an economic slump.

Wall Street hit the panic button last week and survived. But the shocks have left investors stranded.

Financial markets look set for another bout of turbulence, with Italy under fire and the United States' debt downgraded, after $2.5 trillion was wiped off the value of world shares last week.

The European Central Bank faced a decision on Sunday whether to buy Italian bonds to try to prevent the euro zone debt crisis from widening, while global policymakers conferred on the twin financial crises in Europe and the United States.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday downplayed the risk of a double-dip recession in the United States, saying its domestic economy was in better shape compared to its European peers.

Resource nationalism is the biggest threat facing the mining sector this year and next as governments seek to take advantage of higher commodity prices to try to restore fragile finances, advisory and accountancy firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) said on Sunday.

Standard & Poor's managing director John Chambers said on Sunday there is a one in three chance of a further U.S. credit rating downgrade over the next six months to two years.

A unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc jumped into the bidding war over Transatlantic Holdings Inc, offering to buy the reinsurer for $3.24 billion.

The head of Standard & Poor's sovereign ratings, David Beers told Fox News Sunday he did not expect that much impact when global markets open on Monday due to what he called a mild deterioration in the U.S. credit standing to AA-plus from top-tier AAA.

Wall Street hit the panic button last week and survived. But the shocks have left investors stranded.

Scientists have discovered flowing salt water on Mars, which has sparked conversations about potential alien life within the planet's surface. The images sent from NASA's orbiter unveiled flowing waters descending down from rocky slopes.

Eating in smaller plates and bowls can shed unwanted pounds from your body by helping you cut down on mindless eating.

Corrupt practices, nepotism, imagery and an inadequate education system responsible for lack of scientific spirit

MacFarlane and Ann Druyan, Sagan?s widow, hit on the idea of making the series again to reignite layman interest in science

The European Central Bank will decide whether to buy Italian government bonds to try to stem the euro zone's debt crisis from widening in a crucial conference call on Sunday evening (one p.m. EDT), ECB sources said.

The latest attack by AntiSec hackers was targeted at the police. The hackers associated with hacker groups LulzSec and Anonymous leaked over 10GB of information from over 70 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. on Friday.