IBT Staff Reporter

World's two fastest growing economies, China and India, have earned the dubious distinction of being home to some of the biggest polluting firms across the globe, according to a list published by Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA), a product of the Confronting Climate Change Initiative at the Center for Global Development, an independent think-tank located in Washington, DC.

Blogging and social networking company LiveJournal was sold to a Russian media company on Monday.

A British teacher in Sudan who was convicted of insulting the Islamic religion received a pardon from Sudan's president on Monday and has left the country on a flight back home, according to the British Foreign Office.

Oil plumbed five-week lows below $88 a barrel on Monday as concerns about the health of the U.S. economy extended losses that have cut 10 percent from prices over the past two weeks.

Crude oil rose on Monday ahead on an OPEC meeting tomorrow to decide whether to boost production.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Monday posted a 0.4 percent increase in U.S. sales in November, up for the first time in 12 months, driven by sales to commercial fleet and government customers. The embattled U.S. automaker said it sold 182,951 vehicles in the United States last month, compared with 182,259 vehicles a year earlier.

Pakistan's Election Commission on Monday barred former prime minister and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif from a January 8 general election because of his criminal record.

Gold futures rose on Monday following a decline in last weeks trading as weakness in the dollar and falling crude-oil prices prevailed.

Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in the fall of 2003 under international pressure but is continuing to enrich uranium, which means it may still be able to develop a weapon between 2010 and 2015, senior intelligence officials said Monday.

US stocks were nearly flat on Monday after dropping earlier following comments by Eric Rosengren, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President, said the economy's expansion will slow down.

Discover Financial Services, the credit card company spun off by Morgan Stanley five months ago, said on Monday that it would take a charge to write off part of its Goldfish credit card business in Britain, where consumer credit has deteriorated.

Record stock highs and economic growth. Takeovers of European firms. Even cricket world trophies. This year, perhaps more than ever, India has bulged with self-confidence -- some say dangerous cockiness -- that underscores how executives, politicians and the middle-classes feel the global economic juggernaut is unstoppable.

State and local governments should be permitted to issue tax-exempt bonds that would fund programs to prevent foreclosures, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday. Under the plan, state and local governments could temporarily broaden their tax-free exempt bond programs to include mortgage refinancing, Paulson said.

Japan's Nikkei average took a breather on Monday after gaining more than 5 percent the previous week, as exporters such as Canon Inc slipped on a slightly stronger yen.

Oil prices sank to their lowest in more than five weeks on Monday, a fall that could reduce the chances OPEC will agree to boost oil output at a meeting this week.

The yen gained broadly on Monday as investors cut exposure to risk amid expectations of widening financial sector losses tied to the U.S. subprime market.

Stocks were little changed on Monday after comments by the Treasury Secretary that a mortgage aid plan was in the works helped offset declines after a report showing slower growth in manufacturing last month.

French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis SA said on Monday it had opened its first Asian pharmaceutical development centre in Goa, another sign of increasing interest in India from global drugmakers.

Shares in China Railway Group 601390.SS, the world's third-largest construction contractor, rose 69 percent on their Shanghai debut on Monday, calming investor fears that big Chinese listings could be running out of steam.

Shares in Adidas rose more than 3 percent on Monday as traders cited market talk that U.S. rival Nike and Japanese sports shoe maker Asics were interested in the German company.

Top bankers at ABN AMRO NV are threatening a fight with Royal Bank of Scotland over 750 million euros ($1.11 billion) of bonuses they want paid out, a newspaper reported on Monday.

UnitedHealth Group Inc said on Monday that it planned to affirm its 2007 earnings forecast of $3.49 to $3.50 per share in conjunction with its annual investor conference on Tuesday.

South Africa's Standard Bank said on Monday a majority of shareholders had approved the acquisition of a 20 percent stake in the group by China's biggest lender ICBC for $5.6 billion.

MetLife Inc, the largest U.S. life insurer, said on Monday it expects operating profit to increase for the fourth quarter and full year, helped by unusually strong investment results.

Swiss Life advanced a sweeping restructuring on Monday, unveiling plans to buy German investment advisor AWD in an agreed deal valuing AWD at $1.71 billion.

He once likened his singing voice to the mating call of a rutting stag. But Johnny Depp did not let it get in the way of arguably his most challenging film role yet

Beijing is battling to stamp out illegal sales of 2008 Olympic merchandise on dozens of unauthorized Web sites seeking to cash in on the Chinese public's Games fervor, local media reported on Monday.

Warner Music Group (WMG) and Sony BMG Music Entertainment are feeling increased pressure to follow EMI and Universal Music Group's lead in distributing music in the MP3 format, which forgoes restrictive digital rights management technology.

LiveJournal, the personal Web publishing service that jump-started blogging in Russia, has been sold by its U.S. owner to a Russian business partner, which will operate it independently, the companies said on Sunday.