IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. retailers are likely to get an incomplete mark for the key back-to-school season when they report August sales this week, as a later Labor Day is expected to pull some sales into September, pressuring August results.

Google Inc is shipping its Chrome browser with Sony Corp PCs, sealing the Internet company's first such deal since it introduced the Web browser last year to compete with Microsoft.

The U.S. pay czar has begun reviewing the appropriateness of the richest pay packages proposed by firms that received billions of dollars in government aid.

Southwest Airlines Co was hopeful on Monday the government would not force it to ground planes over a maintenance issue, and shares lost nearly 4 percent.

Boeing Co , which has experienced a series of embarrassing and costly delays on the long-awaited 787 Dreamliner, said on Monday that Scott Carson, the head of its commercial airplanes division, is retiring and will be replaced by Jim Albaugh, effective on Tuesday.

Walt Disney Co on Monday agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment Inc for $4 billion in the year's biggest media deal, banking on Marvel's pantheon of superheroes to broaden its lineup of movie franchises that appeal to boys.

The UK government and Lloyds Banking Group have reached a 1 billion pound ($1.62 billion) deal to enhance Lloyds business lending, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Japanese investment bank Nomura has secured a rental deal on its new London headquarters allowing free rent for almost six years, the Financial Times reported, citing the terms of a deal to be announced on Tuesday.

Disney's Big Get; One Stop Oil Shop; AIG Takes a Hit

Yahoo Inc board member Carl Icahn has cut back his stake in Yahoo, selling nearly 13 million shares since last Thursday, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

Drugmaker Schering-Plough Corp lost a bid for a refund of taxes paid on $690 million in profits earned offshore and repatriated, when a U.S. court sided with the Internal Revenue Service.

Nokia has delayed to next year the launch of its music service in the United States, the world's largest music market, Forbes magazine reported online on Monday, quoting a Nokia spokeswoman.

The Australian Dollar opens stronger on Tuesday at 0.8435 after shrugging off worse-than-expected local data yesterday where gross operating profits fell 7.8 per cent in the June quarter and business inventories shrank 3.4 per cent.

The Federal Communications Commission will open an inquiry to examine the various technologies to block children from watching programs with sex and violence, the agency's chief said on Monday.

China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou said on Monday that the nation's biggest mobile provider is still in talk with Apple on iPhone, echoing Apple China's statement that its three-year agreement with China Unicom is not exclusive to the carrier.

American International Group Inc, former CEO Maurice Hank Greenberg and former CFO Howard Smith said on Monday they have agreed to resolve their various legal disputes in private arbitration.

Standard & Poor's on Monday said it may cut its debt rating on the Walt Disney Co, citing concerns that its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion will leave it with higher debt.

Canada's Tiomin Resources Inc said it signed an investment agreement with China's Jinchuan Group Ltd, following which the top Chinese nickel producer will acquire 70 percent equity interest in Tiomin Kenya Ltd (TKL).

The son of an adviser to a defeated Iranian presidential candidate died after being beaten in jail, a semi-official news agency reported on Monday, citing a report from the coroner's office.

A U.S. judge on Monday ruled against American International Group in the giant insurer's legal battle with Starr International Co, affirming a July jury verdict that Starr did not breach a trust.

The PC notebook market continues to shift from full-sized notebooks to smaller, less expensive mini-notebooks.

Criminal gangs tricking unwitting Chinese into releasing bank account information and other personal details are having the greatest success among older people and women, police said on Monday.

Canada's public broadcaster broke television regulations when it aired a New Year's Eve skit that joked about the possible assassination of U.S. President Barack Obama, the country's broadcasting regulator said on Monday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates threw his support behind Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 on Monday amid mounting speculation the new fighter could face cuts as part of future Pentagon belt-tightening.

R&B singer Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to beating ex-girlfriend Rihanna, said he cannot remember hitting her and still loves her.

British police will review the death of Rolling Stones founder and former guitarist, Brian Jones, after receiving new information relating to his death.

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc said on Monday it would buy smaller peer BJ Services Co for $4.8 billion to create a one-stop shopping destination for its oil and gas producing customers and better take on the industry's leaders.

Apple confirmed Monday that its hosting a special, invitation-only event for September 9, 2009, confirming rumors that have circulated for the past couple of weeks.

Hurricane Jimena is very close to becoming a category 5 hurricane, the highest in the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds greater than 155 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center reported at 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday.