IBT Staff Reporter

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire won the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival Saturday, giving the Oprah Winfrey-produced film some early momentum heading into Oscar awards season.

The Federal Reserve plans new rules on bank pay to curb the type of excessive risk-taking that sparked the global financial crisis and triggered international demands for action.

Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook stepped down on Friday from his post to pursue new adventures after privately telling staff he felt he no longer fits in at the No. 1 U.S. entertainment company.

Soft drink maker Pepsico Inc said on Saturday that Michael White, vice chairman and PepsiCo International chief executive, would retire later this year after nearly 20 years with the company.

Shareholders in Italian bank Credito Valtellinese approved on Saturday an issue of a convertible bond worth up to 625 million euros ($918.8 million) by June 30, 2010, under its capital strengthening plans.

Equatorial Guinea seeks steady oil output of 500,000 barrels per day but not necessarily membership in OPEC, the African nation's oil minister Owono Edu Marcelino said Friday.

Vivendi appears likely to sell its 20 percent stake in General Electric's NBC Universal this year, paving the way for a possible initial public offering of the studio in 2010, sources told the New York Times on Friday.

Kerry Group sees Kraft Foods Inc's bid for Britain's Cadbury as the potential start of a wider consolidation wave with rich pickings for the Irish food group, its chief executive said on Saturday.

Mining giant BHP Billiton plans to use part of a cash surplus of around U.S.$18 billion to fund a round of acquisitions, possibly involving some large rivals, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Microsoft Corp has approved a proposal to allow shareholders to vote on its executives' compensation, as U.S. corporations' pay policies come under scrutiny in the wake of the financial crisis.

Poland's treasury may want the country's largest chemical group Pulawy to pay more than 25 percent of its 2008/2009 profit in dividends, Adam Leszkiewicz, the deputy treasury minister, was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Deutsche Lufthansa is aiming for an agreement with Scandinavian SAS by the end of 2009 on the stake it does not already own in Britain's bmi airline, management board member Stefan Lauer told a German magazine.

Verenex Energy Inc, a Canadian oil producer focused on Libya, said on Friday it had entered into an agreement to be bought by a Libyan sovereign wealth fund, after the collapse of a deal reached with China.

Volkswagen's unit Audi expects to reach its unit sales target for China two years earlier than previously planned, Audi's head of sales told industry publication Automobilwoche.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, expects revenue in the fourth quarter to grow compared to the current three-month period, local media reported on Saturday, citing company chairman Morris Chang.

Hungary may relaunch a tender to allow a fourth mobile phone operator into the market in the 900 MHz frequency next year, the daily Magyar Nemzet reported on Saturday.

Saturday September 19 marks Talk like a pirate day, which is about talking like a pirate the whole day.

Vokswagen (VOWG.DE), Europe's largest carmaker, is expected to take a stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor by the end of 2009, German industry publication Automobilwoche report, citing an unnamed Suzuki executive.

Solar thermal company BrightSource Inc has dropped plans to build a solar power plant in the Mojave Desert, losing a battle with environmentalists and a U.S. senator who want to preserve the surrounding area.

An association representing major cruise lines operating in Alaska on Friday filed a lawsuit against the state of Alaska seeking to overturn the state's passenger head tax, a levy the cruise companies claim is unconstitutional and has stifled business.

U.S. regulators on Friday closed two banking subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corp, bringing the total of U.S. bank failures this year to 94.

Pakistan said on Saturday it was investigating an Islamist militant leader whom India accuses of masterminding last year's Mumbai attack, but said he would be arrested only after concrete evidence was found against him.

Russia's participation in the Opel deal may be a waste of time if Western technologies are not transferred to the country, German Gref, cheif executive of deal participant Sberbank (SBER03.MM) said on Saturday.

The United Nations is investigating the use of its vehicles by suicide bombers who killed 17 African Union peacekeepers at their main base in Somalia, a senior official said Saturday.

Struggling Russian carmaker Avtovaz (AVAZ.MM) said on Friday it wanted to strengthen its partnership with shareholder Renault (RENA.PA), a day after a top Russian banker suggested a tie-up with Opel.

Debt-laded Continental AG, a German auto supplier controlled by Schaeffler, wants to keep its portfolio structure in the current from, new chief executive Elmar Degenhart was quoted on Saturday as saying.

U.S. tax authorities on Thursday said that 1.4 million taxpayers have used an $8,000 home buyer tax credit so far and reminded home buyers they need to close on a purchase before the Dec. 1 deadline to qualify.

First talks between European unions and delegates from General Motors and Magna (MGa.TO) begin next week over plans to cut 10,500 jobs at Opel save labor costs in the hundreds of millions of euros.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned Saturday that Ireland could lose its right to nominate an EU commissioner if it rejects the Lisbon Treaty for a second time.