IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Sunday to finish restoring the Gulf Coast area hit by Hurricane Katrina, five years after the storm ravaged the region and hurt the credibility of his Republican predecessor.

The Belgian politician leading talks to form a new government tendered his resignation on Sunday, but the king insisted he stay on to avert a political crisis two months after a parliamentary election.

Nokia and Siemens have confirmed talks with private equity firms over a possible investment into Nokia Siemens Networks , the Financial Times said on its website on Sunday.

Dell Inc said on Sunday it was assessing its bid for 3PAR Inc after the data storage company's board of directors late on Friday said Hewlett-Packard Co's $2 billion (1.3 billion pound) offer was a superior proposal.

Pakistan endured the worst day in their turbulent cricket history on Sunday when a corruption scandal erupting overnight was succeeded by their heaviest test defeat.

France's Sanofi-Aventis disclosed its $18.5 billion offer for Genzyme Corp in a bid to rouse shareholders after failing to engage the company in merger talks.

An international scientific team has identified for the first time a genetic risk factor associated with common migraines and say their research could open the way for new treatments to prevent migraine attacks.

Global miner BHP Billiton could look to divest the nitrogen and phosphates business of fertilizer maker Potash Corp if its $39 billion bid goes through, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday.

AstraZeneca's new blood-thinning drug Brilinta has been given a class 1 recommendation as a treatment option under European medical guidelines, even though it has yet to be approved for sale.

Gene testing is shaping up to be a marketing battleground for new blood thinners like AstraZeneca's Brilinta, underscoring the power and limitations of genetics as a tool to predict medical outcomes.

A senior French prosecutor is investigating Labour Minister Eric Woerth's role in the tax affairs of L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and his alleged favouritism in a land deal, a source close to the prosecutor said on Sunday.

Patients with chronic heart failure given injections of their own bone marrow stem cells have better heart function and live longer, German researchers said Sunday.

Sanofi-Aventis's new heart rhythm drug Multaq should be considered as a first-line treatment option for patients with atrial fibrillation, a common arrhythmia, according to medical guidelines released on Sunday.

Giving patients with a history of heart attacks a margarine enriched with omega-3 oils in addition to standard drugs appears to make no difference to their chances of having a repeat attack.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi arrived in Rome on Sunday for a two-day visit that has aroused a mixture of curiosity and controversy over Tripoli's growing influence in the Italian economy.

The Italian government is preparing for a battle over planned justice reforms that would set time limits on trials but also effectively shield Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from two pending cases.

U.S. President Barack Obama's message this weekend that Iraq would chart its own course may have been welcome news for war-weary Americans, but it has fuelled anxieties about the future among Iraqis.

The growing availability of popular TV shows on the Web is at the heart of ongoing contentious programing fee negotiations between Walt Disney Co and Time Warner Cable Inc, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Google Inc has acquired Angstro, a startup that sorts news and information across social networks like Facebook, a spokesman for the leading Web search provider said on Sunday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has smoothed the ruffled feathers of anti-inflation hawks at the Fed by indicating he will only press for more policy easing if the U.S. economic slowdown worsens.

Gunmen shot dead five campaign workers for a candidate in Afghanistan's parliamentary election next month, officials said on Sunday, another sign of rising insecurity as Washington prepares to review its war strategy.

Chechen police killed 12 rebels as they repulsed a raid on the Moscow-backed president's home village on Sunday, authorities said, in an attack that broke a period of relative calm in the Russian republic.

The patient clearly looks ill, but is there at least a steady pulse?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has smoothed the ruffled feathers of anti-inflation hawks at the Fed by indicating he will only press for more policy easing if the U.S. economic slowdown worsens.

Pakistan intend to complete their England cricket tour despite a police investigation into corruption allegations involving the fourth test which concluded at Lord's on Sunday.

The Bank of Japan is likely to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to ease monetary policy after Governor Masaaki Shirakawa returned to Tokyo from a trip to the United States earlier than expected.

Royal Bank of Scotland is in the process of appointing advisers to review the options for its insurance business, including a possible sale, according to a source close to the group.

Computer equipment worth $1.9 million which the U.S. military says was a gift for Iraqi schoolchildren but was auctioned off for less than $50,000 was sold legally, Iraq's customs authority said Sunday.