IBT Staff Reporter

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak faces a challenge this week on how to soothe political rancor that spilled out on Monday after the suicide of his predecessor Roh Moo-hyun and could threaten his economic reforms.

President Barack Obama said on Monday that nuclear and missile tests conducted by North Korea were a grave concern to all nations and a legal violation that warranted action by the international community.

An internal company letter from Sprint letter that discusses its launch plans for the highly-anticipated Palm Pre has been leaked online.

A moderate challenger to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the authorities on Monday for blocking access to the Facebook social networking site ahead of the June 12 presidential election.

Germany will decide on a preferred bidder for General Motors unit Opel by the middle of the week, after holding a final round of talks with suitors Fiat, Magna and RHJ.

Top emitters of greenhouse gases tried on Monday to break a deadlock about sharing the burden of cuts in a U.N. climate pact, and Washington rejected charges that it was lagging Europe in fighting global warming.

World leaders condemned North Korea for carrying out nuclear and missile tests and U.S. President Barack Obama said Pyongyang's actions were a reckless challenge warranting action from the international community.

Solar power plants in deserts using mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays have the potential to generate up to a quarter of the world's electricity by 2050, a report by pro-solar groups said on Monday.

Chinese power giant Huaneng will launch its second pilot carbon capture project in Shanghai at the end of this year, but high costs are holding back further progress, an executive with the company said.

Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said there was no sign of a problem with U.S. inflation at the moment, and revealed that Chinese officials had quizzed him on the Fed's purchases of U.S. government bonds.

A key measure of German business sentiment rose in May and Japan raised its economic outlook for the first time in three years in further signs the worst of the global recession may be over, with stability seen later in 2009.

Oil prices fell toward $61 a barrel on Monday, giving away some of last week's gains, ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna, where the group was widely expected to agree not to cut oil output further.

North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test on Monday, stoking tension across the regional economic powerhouse of East Asia and prompting U.N. Security Council members to call an emergency meeting.

The German government will likely settle on a preferred bidder for Opel, the German unit of General Motors, by the middle of the week, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday.

China's official foreign exchange manager is still buying record amounts of U.S. government bonds, in spite of Beijing's increasingly vocal fear of a dollar collapse, the Financial Times reported.

General Motors' Opel unit could go bankrupt but this would be the worst possible scenario, the premiers of North-Rhine-Westphalia and Opel's home state of Hesse said on Monday.

Susan Boyle, the frumpy Scottish spinster whose amazing voice has become a global YouTube sensation, stunned audiences again on Sunday as she was voted through to the final of Britain's Got Talent.

An Australia woman's account of a late night shooting in Sydney has turned her into an Internet sensation with T-shirts, mugs and a dance remix made in her honor but there's just one problem -- she made it up.

Oil prices fell toward $61 a barrel on Monday, shedding some of the previous session's gains, on risk aversion after North Korea said it had conducted an underground nuclear test.

North Korea said it successfully conducted a nuclear test on Monday, a move certain to further isolate the prickly state, which argues it has no choice but to build an atomic arsenal to protect itself in a hostile world.

South Korean stocks and the won dipped after North Korea said it had conducted a nuclear test on Monday, but the reaction was limited as investors had expected such a move from the North and have become long accustomed its provocations.

Oil prices fell toward $61 a barrel on Monday, shedding some of the previous session's gains, on growing risk aversion after North Korea said it had successfully conducted a nuclear test.

Britain’s singing sensation, Susan Boyle made another appearance on Britain’s Got Talent show performing “Memory” from the musical Cats.

Myanmar accused neighboring Thailand of meddling in its internal affairs on Sunday after Bangkok said the trial of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi threatened the junta's honor and credibility.

Biogen Idec Inc on Sunday said two proxy advisory firms recommend shareholders of the biotechnology company vote against billionaire Carl Icahn's slate of candidates for its board.

President Barack Obama will likely announce a nominee within days to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, Assistant Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin said on Sunday.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview released on Saturday he was confident General Motors would thrive after restructuring, but he made no mention whether the ailing automaker might have to enter bankruptcy to complete reorganization.

As the Obama administration looks for ways to reform executive pay in the banking industry, novel ideas are surfacing on how to move away from stock options as a key component of compensation.

U.S. President Barack Obama is walking a tightrope on climate change -- and so far appears to be achieving a delicate balance.