IBT Staff Reporter

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 recovery.

An Indonesian volcano, inactive for four centuries, erupted again on Monday, pitching ash two km into the air and sending nearby residents scurrying from their homes.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's attempt to convert dozens of young women to Islam during a visit to Italy led to an angry reaction from Italian media Monday.

The Bank of Japan boosted its cheap loan scheme on Monday, bowing to government pressure for action to protect a fragile recovery by curbing the yen's rise, while cabinet ministers signalled they may intervene to weaken the currency.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion will give the Indian government access to encrypted data from September 1, while the Indian home ministry wants BlackBerry, Google and Skype to set up servers in India, a government source familiar with the matter said Monday.

Chinese and North Korean state media on Monday confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had visited the country, where he met China's President Hu Jintao in the northeastern city of Changchun.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion will give the Indian government access to encrypted data from September 1, while the Indian home ministry wants BlackBerry, Google and Skype to set up servers in India, a government source familiar with the matter said Monday.

Hewlett-Packard Co's said on Monday its board approved to buy back an additional $10 billion in shares to manage dilution created by shares issued under other plans.

The Bank of Japan boosted its cheap loan scheme on Monday, bowing to government pressure for action to protect a fragile recovery by curbing the yen's rise, while cabinet ministers signalled they may intervene to weaken the currency.

In a small study, people who had chronic pain as a result of damage to the nervous system reported feeling less pain, as well as less depression and anxiety, when they smoked marijuana compared to when they smoked a drug-free placebo.

When it comes to treating very short kids with growth hormone, some doctors may be just as swayed by their own attitudes about being short as by data, suggests a new study.

Kids who suffer concussions should be cleared by a doctor before they start playing sports again, and parents and coaches should be aware that young athletes take longer to recover than college and professional athletes, according to a new report in Pediatrics.

As part of efforts to shift its export emphasis away from West Europe, Russia inaugurated a branch of Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline that delivers east Siberian oil to China.

China confirmed to foreign diplomats in Beijing on Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had visited the country, Japan's Kyodo news agency said, as Chinese state media praised ties with the isolated country.

More than half of the natural gas drillers operating in the Marcellus Shale missed the deadline to report the production levels of their wells in violation of state law, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

As part of its rice recovery scheme, Philippines is to produce at least 500,000 metric tons of paddy rice to narrow the expected production shortfall of unmilled rice. Country's Agriculture ministry is in the process of validating its figures with the budget for its rice recovery plan during the wet cropping season.

After increasing paddy field areas, Indonesia said the country expected to see a rice surplus of 5 million tons at the end of this year.

While the gowns varied in style and color, A-list television stars opted for classic elegance at the Primetime Emmy Awards tonight wearing platinum jewelry. Whether it was a pair of stud earrings with brilliant white diamonds as seen on Kim Kardashian, or stacked cuff bracelets with colored gemstones on Kyra Sedgwick, platinum transcended all jewelry trends, making our favorite stars stand out on the red carpet. Not only is platinum the highest quality metal, but its natural white color also max...

Diwali is set to ignite the gold boom in India and the prices are expected to cross Rs 20,000 per 10 gm. According to market analysts, gold prices are expected to rise to Rs 20,000 per 10 gm and silver to run up to Rs35,000 per kg.

Russia said it is considering selling off the diamonds it bought last year for $1 billion from state-owned Alrosa, the world's largest rough diamond producer.

India's gold demand is on a makeover shift as the yellow metal is seen turning paper with rising demand of Gold ETFs in the country. According to an industry estimate, the gold holding by ETFs in India has surged to 11-12 tonnes, almost double against last year.

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.

In Europe, the philosophy is Buyer Be Aware. But in the U.S., it's Buyer Beware. American food labels have loads of nutritional information, but little that you can trust to tell you how it was produced.

Pressure mounted on Genzyme as its shares rose 6 percent in Frankfurt a day after French drugmaker Sanofi made public its month-old proposal to buy the U.S. biotech group for $18.5 billion (11.8 billion pounds).

The Bank of Japan expanded its cheap loan scheme on Monday, heeding government calls for action to curb a rise in the yen that threatens a fragile economic recovery and leaving the door open to more policy easing.

Ireland should consider shutting down nationalised Anglo Irish Bank over a period of about five years, the Green Party, the smaller member in the governing coalition said on Monday.

Intel will buy German chipmaker Infineon's wireless unit for $1.4 billion (900 million pounds), enabling the U.S. chipmaker to boost its presence in the smartphone market.

Russia's paramount leader, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, hinted on Monday he would return to the presidency in 2012 for six more years and said democracy protesters marching without permission deserved to be beaten.

Stock index futures were flat on Monday as investors awaited data on personal spending for a signal the economy can avoid a double-dip recession and after a flurry of mergers-and-acquisition activity.