IBT Staff Reporter

Microsoft Corp has struck a deal with Walt Disney Co's ESPN network to broadcast live sporting events -- for free -- into U.S. living rooms through the Xbox 360 games console, bypassing traditional cable providers.

A pilots' strike at Spirit Airlines prompted the carrier on Monday to extend flight cancellations through mid-week, with shares of rivals moving higher on prospects of more business.

When YouTube began, it was likened by some as a scattered web version of a funniest home videos television show.

Wall Street is making a last stand against regulatory reform in behind-the-scenes meetings in Congress, where lobbyists hope to use high-stakes horse trading to blunt provisions that could cost the industry billions of dollars.

Stocks rose on Monday as European industrial data eased concerns about a slowdown in global growth, but a debt downgrade of Greece limited gains.

Sara Lee Corp chief Brenda Barnes is recovering from a stroke that prompted her to abruptly take medical leave last month, and the company said it would update investors on her condition and plans by August 12.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's exit from its ultra-low interest rate policy will take a significant period of time, a San Francisco Fed economist said in a paper published on Monday.

The worst oil spill in U.S. history has created an unprecedented financial, legal, regulatory and environmental crisis for companies that operate in the Gulf of Mexico, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

President Barack Obama called on Republicans on Saturday to vote for a delay in cutting government Medicare insurance payments to doctors, taking aim at the opposition party in a renewed election-year push for his new healthcare law.

A senator on Sunday called on the FDA to reveal findings on a possible link between a chemical found in most sunscreens and skin cancer.

A widely used class of blood pressure drugs may slightly increase the risk of cancer, U.S. researchers said on Sunday, and they are calling on U.S. regulators to take a closer look.

Senator Blanche Lincoln, who crafted the plan to get banks out of the swaps business, is trying to tweak her proposal in an attempt to keep it in a final regulation bill, according to a document obtained by Reuters on Monday.

Sara Lee Corp Chief Executive Officer Brenda Barnes said on Monday that she had suffered a stroke but was recuperating, in the company's first disclosure of the condition that prompted her to suddenly go on medical leave last month.

U.S. stocks climbed on Monday as European industrial data eased concerns about a slowdown in global growth and rising oil prices lifted energy shares.

CVS Caremark said it had authorized a stock buyback of up to $2 billion, an indication of confidence in its growth prospects.

Spain said on Monday that foreign banks were refusing to lend to some of its banks in the latest twist to the euro zone debt crisis, but denied it was on the brink of seeking a Greek-style European financial rescue.

Oil prices rallied by 2 percent to above $75 a barrel on Monday as renewed optimism about global economic recovery boosted the fuel demand outlook and sent stock markets higher across the globe.

The euro advanced further to hit a session high against the U.S. dollar in late morning trade on Monday as stock gains accelerated, boosting risk appetite.

Britain's newly created budget watchdog downgraded economic growth forecasts on Monday but did not radically alter the scale of austerity measures required from the country's coalition government.

The U.S. labor market will hold the key to a recovery in the hard-hit housing sector, according to a Harvard University report released on Monday.

Stocks rose on Monday, building on last week's gains and tracking a rise in global equities, after strong European industrial data reassured investors the global economic rebound was on track.

India's headline inflation unexpectedly accelerated in May, heightening expectations the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would raise rates before its scheduled July review despite concerns over Europe's debt crisis.

A strong global economic recovery is under way, and is unlikely to be thrown off course by European debt woes or the improbable event of the bursting of an asset bubble in China, a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Monday.

The euro rose broadly on Monday as gains in global stock markets lifted risk appetite and prompted traders to pare back bets against the single euro-zone currency. The euro moved further away from a recent four-year low to trade above $1.2250 -- its highest in more than a week. Stronger-than-expected euro zone industrial output further boosted the currency.

Even as the Union Finance Minister is about to come up with the revised direct tax code, the Gujarat-based diamond traders' body, Surat Diamond Association has demanded some of the sea-change amendments in the proposed code, which according to sources in the finance ministry, are 'near to impossible' to implement.

Stocks were set to open higher on Monday, building on last week's gains and tracking a rise in global equities, after strong euro zone industrial data reassured investors the global economic rebound is on track.

The Agricultural Bank of China is seeking to raise over $23 billion by listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in what would be the world's biggest IPO, as China's banks shore up their capital base after a lending spree.

Oil prices rallied by 2 percent to above $75 a barrel on Monday as renewed optimism about the global recovery boosted the fuel demand outlook and sent Asian and European stock markets to their highest level in four weeks.

A long-running controversy over Zimbabwe's allegedly illegal diamond trade, which human rights groups say is run by the army to enrich the power elite, took another twist with a watchdog official saying Harare can resume exports suspended in 2009.