IBT Staff Reporter

Merger activity drove the Dow and S&P to two-and-a-half-year highs on Monday in the latest in a series of mileposts that point to more gains ahead.

Stocks closed higher on Monday, with merger activity driving the Dow and S&P to fresh two-and-a-half-year highs, the latest in a series of mileposts that point to more gains ahead.

An iPhone app aimed at helping Catholics through confession and encouraging lapsed followers back to the faith has been sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the United States.

Speaking at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event in Washington, F.C.C. Chairman Julius Genachowski said the U.S. needs to take action on its broadband problem.

Volkswagen USA has called on the Dark Side for help selling its cars. In a commercial which aired in the Super Bowl on Sunday, a young child wearing a Darth Vader costume from the Star Wars movie is shown attempting to use the “Force” on various household items to no avail.

Musical comedy Glee more than doubled its TV audience on Sunday, attracting 26.8 million viewers for a special episode broadcast after the Super Bowl, ratings figures showed on Monday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp wants to sell holdings in Arkansas' Fayetteville shale natural gas field and its stakes in two companies to raise $5 billion as it tries to trim a heavy debt load.

Hasbro Inc touted a strong entertainment lineup for 2011, including toys modeled after the movie Transformers -- Dark of the Moon, to reassure investors about its future sales prospects after a lackluster finish to the all-important holiday selling season.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday, boosted by merger news and rising metals prices as investors bet on a stronger global economy.

U.S. regulators on Monday are expected to make their most forceful attempt yet to clamp down bank bonuses since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, but the proposals pale in comparison to harsher restrictions already set in Europe.

Hasbro Inc reported weaker-than-expected revenue in the fourth-quarter on tepid U.S. demand for games and puzzles in the biggest selling season of the year.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asked a British judge on Monday to block his extradition to Sweden on sex crime allegations, arguing he would not get a fair trial and could end up facing execution in the United States.

Google and European Union regulators are in tentative talks to resolve an antitrust probe against the Internet's dominant search engine, a source familiar with the case said on Monday.

Nokia's E7 phone will make its delayed debut this week, as the world's largest phone maker by volume tries to recover ground lost to Apple and Google in the smartphone market.

President Barack Obama called on U.S. businesses to invest in the country - urging them to contact his business council ahead of its first meeting later this month if they had concerns about why they shouldn't.

The Dow and S&P 500 advanced to their highest levels since June 2008 on Monday as a flurry of merger news and solid earnings sparked broad gains.

Lauren Conrad's upcoming reality show on U.S. network MTV has been pulled, the fashion designer told The Hollywood Reporter.

Super Bowl XLV scored with viewers, tying for the highest-rated National Football League championship game according to overnight television ratings released Monday by Fox.

A Russian man has pleaded guilty in court to stealing $10 million from former Royal Bank of Scotland division World Pay in 2008 by hacking into accounts, RIA News reported on Monday.

The Xperia Play makes its official debut via a Super Bowl television spot, putting an end to months of rumors.

Health insurer Humana Inc posted a far lower quarterly net profit on Monday, hurt by a variety of expenses, but raised its 2011 earnings forecast on better-than-expected sales of its Medicare plans for the elderly.

Chesapeake Energy Corp wants to sell holdings in Arkansas' Fayetteville shale natural gas field and its stakes in two companies to raise $5 billion and trim its heavy debt load.

Though she has been an actor for much of her 29 years, Natalie Portman admits there was a time when she wondered about other career choices.

Robert Goldberg, head of Zynga Game Network Inc., feels that it might be very difficult for Facebook to overtake Mixi in the country.

Health insurer Humana Inc posted a far lower quarterly net profit on Monday, hurt by a variety of expenses, but raised its 2011 earnings forecast on better-than-expected sales of its Medicare plans for the elderly.

Super Bowl champion Aaron Rodgers said on Sunday he never felt a monkey on my back after taking over as the Green Bay Packers' starting quarterback following the departure of Brett Favre three years ago.

Alcatel-Lucent showed off technology on Monday that shrinks mobile phone base stations to barely bigger than a golf ball.

Google and European Union regulators are in tentative talks to resolve an antitrust probe against the Internet's dominant search engine, a source familiar with the case said on Monday.

A Google Inc executive who had gone missing in Egypt was released on Monday and was on his way to Tahrir Square, the center of two weeks of anti-government demonstrations, Al Arabiya television reported.