IBT Staff Reporter

NBC's primetime lineup is already laden with cop and hospital dramas, so it hardly seems necessary to add yet another to the schedule. And initially, the new medical series Trauma seems to be the same old tune, different verse.

U.S. healthcare companies Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson announced deals worth almost 5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) with European rivals on Monday aimed at securing vaccines and other products key to future growth.

TV reality star Khloe Kardashian, 25, and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom, 29 got married on Sunday in a mansion in Beverly Hills, according to reports from People, US Weekly, the Los Angeles Times.

Delegates at the start of marathon climate talks in Thailand on Monday were told to speed up painfully slow negotiations as they struggle to settle on the outline of a tougher pact to fight global warming.

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Monday it planned to change the way it presents its accounts to reduce administration costs and simplify presentation.

Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 7 to 15 points, or as much as 0.3 percent lower on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, tracking weaker showings in Asia after falls on Wall Street on Friday, with investors nervously looking ahead to this week U.S. jobs report.

South Korea's KT Corp, which is holding talks to sell Apple's iPhone in South Korea, plans to introduce 3G smartphones supporting WiFi and mobile WiMAX from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, its chief strategy officer told Reuters.

Dutch investor Louis Reijtenbagh's family has reached a settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co over the family's art collection, a Dutch newspaper reported on Monday.

France Telecom's Orange will start selling the popular Apple iPhone in Britain later this year, it said on Monday, when the exclusive contract held by Telefonica's O2 will expire.

Bank of America Corp has suspended its current commitments to ACORN Housing, an affiliate of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a scandal-hit U.S. liberal grassroots group, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday.

The U.S. Treasury plans to kick off a fresh $15 billion liquidity and mortgage bond purchase program to assist state finance agencies providing mortgages to low-income borrowers, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Monday after three days of losses on Wall Street as more mergers and the last days of the third quarter encouraged investors into equities.

U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday after three days of losses on Wall Street as more mergers and the last days of the third quarter encouraged investors.

The company's two largest shareholders -- Gratco LLC and Holiday Stationstores Inc -- will buy shares held by the remaining shareholders for $5.15 a share, the St. Paul, Minnesota-based company said in a statement.

Xerox Shifts to Outsourcing; J&J's Biotech Bet; Abbott Expands

U.S. diversified health care company Johnson & Johnson has bought an 18 percent stake in biotech firm Crucell for 302 million euros ($444 million) as part of a flu vaccine development deal, the Dutch company said on Monday.

An Australian court has ruled that local governments can pursue financial claims against collapsed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in Australia and elsewhere, a firm that is funding the litigation said on Monday.

Oil fell below $66 a barrel on Monday, extending last week's 8.4 percent drop, as investors focused on high inventories and sluggish demand, shrugging off tension between Iran and the West.

Early detection of problems in the lymphatic system is the best way to prevent the discomfort and disfigurement that can result from lymphoedema, the swelling created by disruption to the body's drainage system.

China Unicom, the country's No. 2 mobile carrier, will begin to sell Apple Inc's iPhone in China for a retail price of 5,000 yuan ($732.50), as it leans on the phone to launch its 3G service.

The name chosen by Kraft for its new Vegemite - iSnack2.0 - has been widely panned in online commentary from the public.

Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell said on Monday Johnson & Johnson had bought 14.6 million new Crucell shares for 302 million euros ($443.5 million) as part of a flu vaccine development deal.

Bank of America Corp has suspended its current commitments to ACORN Housing, an affiliate of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now , a scandal-hit U.S. liberal grassroots group, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday.

Donald Fisher, who co-founded Gap Inc with his wife Doris forty years ago, died on Sunday after a battle with cancer, the clothing retailer said.

China Unicom, the country's No.2 mobile carrier, said on Monday that Apple's popular iPhone will retail in China for 5,000 yuan ($732.50), above market expectation, as it seeks to build up its 3G service.

The yen surged to an eight-month high against the dollar on Monday as Japanese officials waved off any plans to stem the currency's rise, driving the Nikkei down 2.5 percent and sparking a broad retreat from riskier assets.

Amid the din of all the other music-based games being released this fall comes a unique twist on the convergence between music and video games: Brutal Legend.

Belgian drugs, chemicals and plastics maker Solvay said on Monday it would sell its drugs unit to U.S. partner Abbott Laboratories for 4.5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in cash and reinvest in chemicals and plastics.

U.S. drugmaker Abbott Laboratories plans to buy Solvay SA's pharmaceuticals unit for $6.6 billion (4.5 billion euros), two sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday, with an announcement expected on Monday.