IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks fell on Monday as a statement from President Barack Obama fell short of addressing worries the recovery is faltering, while investors looked ahead with caution to important economic data coming this week.

Japanese powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa may withdraw his challenge to Prime Minister Naoto Kan in a party leadership race, Jiji news agency said on Monday, as Kan's predecessor sought to avert a clash that could split the party.

Consumer spending rose at the strongest pace in four months in July, supported by a small gain in incomes that offered hope consumers will be able to keep contributing to a modest economic recovery.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will take his central banking expertise to the Brookings Institution after he retires this week from four decades at the Fed, Brookings announced on Monday.

A car bomb killed a district chief in eastern Afghanistan on Monday as he entered a provincial headquarters, but the governor escaped unhurt, officials said.

Streamlining export restrictions on defense goods and high-technology products will help create manufacturing jobs while boosting national security

It is in Hungary's interest to sign loan agreements with the IMF if necessary but it is not in the country's interest to have economic policy agreements with the Fund, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday.

A gunman killed six members of a single family and then shot himself when cornered by policemen in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Monday, the country's police chief said.

Stocks accelerated declines on Monday after comments from U.S. President Barack Obama did little to soothe investors anxious over the slowing pace of the recovery.

Hewlett-Packard Co said on Monday its board approved the buyback of an additional $10 billion in shares, even as it finds itself involved in an escalating bidding war over high-end data storage company 3PAR Inc .

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion offered the Indian government a few solutions to access BlackBerry data, avoiding an immediate ban as the government studies those solutions, India's home ministry said on Monday.

Swedish truckmaker Scania will develop new truck cabs with Porsche Engineering, in another step toward firming up ties under the Volkswagen umbrella.

Foxconn International <2038.HK>, the world's top contract cellphone maker, slipped deeper into the red in the first half of the year, hit by falling phone prices and higher depreciation costs as it moves production to inland China to escape high labour costs.

Flood-stricken Pakistan urgently needs more international aid to combat potential instability and extremism, influential U.S. Senator John Kerry said, as hunger and disease threaten millions of victims.

Contrary to popular belief, new mothers may often get a decent amount of sleep in their babies' first few months -- but it's not a good-quality sleep, a new study suggests.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il wants an early restart to stalled nuclear disarmament talks, Chinese state media said on Monday, ending official silence about Kim's secretive five-day trip ahead of a key congress.

U.S. biotech Genzyme broke its five-week silence to reject an $18.5 billion (11.9 billion pounds) takeover proposal by French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis on Monday, dismissing it as opportunistic and too low.

Chinese and North Korean state media confirmed on Monday that North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il had visited China, where he told President Hu Jintao he remained committed to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co on Monday said it agreed to buy Cogent Inc for more than $900 million, paying a nearly 18 percent premium for the biometric identification systems company.

Pakistan could release any players under investigation for alleged corruption from their squad for the one-day series against England, a source in the team told Reuters.

Elizabeth Warren is folksy and plain-spoken and favors cardigans over Washington power suits. Many on Wall Street view her as their worst nightmare but she is a hero to liberal activists and consumer groups.

Singapore announced on Monday restrictions on people buying second homes as part of new measures to cool its red-hot residential market, joining Hong Kong and China in taking steps to keep a lid on housing prices.

U.S. election-year politics are interfering with the plan to build an Islamic centre near the site of the September 11 attacks, the Muslim cleric leading the project said in comments published Monday.

It was a cold, drizzly March morning this year when Ed Sproull's heart stopped beating.

Indian officials began a meeting on Monday to decide whether to ban some of Research In Motion's BlackBerry services, a day before the deadline runs out for the firm to give security agencies access to its secure data.

Genzyme Corp rejected an $18.5 billion (11.8 billion pounds) takeover offer from French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis, saying it dramatically undervalues the company.

Canadian auto sales rose to their highest level in nearly three years this summer on the back of rebounding employment levels and steep incentives from automakers

Indian soldiers on Monday shot dead six separatist militants trying to cross over from Pakistan into the disputed region of Kashmir where popular protests against Indian rule have mounted in recent weeks.

Ireland's government signalled on Monday that gradually winding down nationalised Anglo Irish Bank could be an option as political pressure mounts on Prime Minister Brian Cowen to stem the rising cost of maintaining the troubled lender.