IBT Staff Reporter

Asian stocks sank on Monday with Tokyo's Nikkei hitting its lowest level in about 15 months as investors dumped Japanese exporters on the back of a surge in the yen to an 18-month high versus the dollar.

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining group, is considering the sale of one of its largest units, BHP Petroleum, to help finance a hostile takeover of Rio Tinto, the UK Sunday Times newspaper said.

The top three U.S. banks have agreed on the structure of a backup fund of at least $75 billion to stabilize credit markets, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

Chocolate maker Hershey Co said on Sunday it has replaced eight members of its board of directors, the latest management shake-up in the weeks since the surprise announcement of Chief Executive Richard Lenny's retirement. Six of Hershey's independent directors quit at the request of the Hershey Trust, the controlling shareholder that has recently said it was not happy with company's performance. Two directors elected separately by shareholders also resigned.

Britain must try to prevent a European Union satellite navigation system from going ahead until its costs, risks and benefits have been thoroughly assessed, lawmakers said on Monday.

The top U.S. official for the Caucasus praised Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Sunday for his leadership over the last 4 years, but suggested he lift a state of emergency and restore an independent media.

The European Union's top diplomat and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator agreed on Sunday to hold a new round of talks on Tehran's disputed atomic ambitions by the end of this month, Iranian news agencies said on Sunday.

The quantity of Iranian bomb-making components being found in Iraq is increasing despite a fall in attacks and 20 Iranian-trained agents are still operating south of Baghdad, a top U.S. general said on Sunday.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday a general election would be held by Jan. 9 but under a state of emergency he imposed eight days ago.

BHP Billiton has lined up a $70 billion financing package to bolster its $140 billion takeover approach for rival miner Rio Tinto, the Financial Times said on Saturday.

A downgrade of Citigroup Inc's nearly pristine credit ratings will not impede its thriving business, new acting Chief Executive Win Bischoff wrote in an internal memo to employees sent on Saturday.

British grocer Tesco made its U.S. debut on Wednesday by throwing open the doors of a sleek, modern Los Angeles store stocked with a larger helping of fresh, ready-to-eat meals than at traditional supermarkets.

Yahoo Inc mobile chief Marco Boerries is racing to lock down phone distribution deals that could deliver hundreds of millions of advertising customers before Google's own mobile strategy ever takes wing.

Ads before videos irritate consumers, raising the risk they'll ignore the promotion or leave the Web site.

A younger generation of chief executives in many boardrooms is set to spur the strategic overhaul.

Robert Rubin is widely acclaimed as best-suited to rescue the struggling bank, but questions remain.

Visa Inc, the world's largest credit card network, filed with regulators on Friday to raise up to $10 billion in an initial public offering, in one of the largest and most eagerly awaited U.S. stock offerings. Visa announced the offering two days after agreeing to pay $2.1 billion to settle a three-year-old antitrust lawsuit with rival American Express Co.

Nashua mobile network in South Africa revealed today that it will introduce satellite phones in different parts of Africa starting next week.

The credit crisis deepened on Friday as Wachovia Corp reported a potential $1.7 billion loss on mortgage-related debt, while credit card company Capital One Financial Corp said more customers are missing payments.

The pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. said on Friday that it had settled Vioxx litigation for $4.85 billion.

The head of the agency charged with ensuring smooth transition of the television industry into digital broadcasting quit the Bush administration late Friday.

Bank of America Corp. (BofA) has revealed its plans to invest $35 million in an advertising campaign this weekend as a way of boosting and marketing its business.

The average monthly wage of workers in China’s cities and towns in the first three quarters this year came out to 1,853 yuan(250$), showing year-on-year growth of 18.8%according to the data from a report issued by People's Bank of China (PBC).

Stocks fell for a third session on Friday after a disappointing outlook from Qualcomm Inc triggered more weakness in technology shares and helped send the Nasdaq down to its biggest weekly point loss since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The wireless technology developer late Thursday forecast 2008 earnings and revenue below analysts' expectations, a day after Cisco Systems Inc warned about demand from its customers in the banking sector.

Afghanistan's biggest suicide bomb attack is now known to have killed 59 schoolboys, the Education Ministry said on Friday, announcing a nationwide ban on students greeting politicians or dignitaries.

Conditions are perfect for gold price gains but the fall could be brutal if the support of a weak dollar and crude really ends.

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was freed from house arrest late on Friday, hours after she was stopped from leaving her Islamabad home to lead a rally against the president's imposition of emergency rule.

Gold gained on Friday, with investors keen to drive the metal to a record high of $850 an ounce as the dollar tumbled to an all-time low and oil rallied.

Stocks fell on Friday, hit by a drop in technology shares, including Microsoft Corp, on concern about the profit outlook, while news of more credit losses dragged on financial services companies.