IBT Staff Reporter

A Qatari fund has ditched plans for a 10.6 billion-pound ($22 billion) bid for British retailer J Sainsbury, blaming worsening credit markets and the cost of winning support from the firm's pension trustees.

Fear and mistrust gripped Wall Street on Monday after Citigroup's CEO quit in the wake of mounting credit losses and an influential money manager called the subprime mortgage market a $1 trillion problem.

Floods have killed at least 46 people in central Vietnam in the last 10 days and a typhoon making its way across the South China Sea is forecast to dump more rain this week, reports said on Monday.

Britain and France rushed to offer reassurance on Monday that their economies and banking systems would ride out global credit turmoil after Citigroup said it could write off $11 billion of subprime mortgage losses.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday the United States would review billions of dollars in financial aid to ally Pakistan after President Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule.

President George W. Bush, facing Turkish threats of a military incursion into Iraq to root out Kurdish rebels, will assure Turkey's prime minister on Monday he is committed to helping to combat the militants.

Shares in Citigroup Inc rose 5 percent in their debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday, a day after the U.S. bank's head resigned to take responsibility for spiraling losses on subprime-related investments.

As investors bet on the future of social networks, some of the biggest players in the field are due to unveil this week ways of piping in advertising to the most personal of media formats.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd is rolling out a professional software package aimed at small and medium businesses with up to 30 wireless users, the company said on Monday.

Family groups renewed calls on Friday to clamp down on video game Manhunt 2 after hackers accessed scenes of bloody killings that were scaled back to let the game go on sale in the United States.

Gold drifted lower on Monday tracking weaker oil but held above $800 an ounce, with an ailing dollar and positive fundamentals seen helping the metal to touch a record high set in early 1980.

The yen rose across the board on Monday as global stock markets fell on worries of more credit-related troubles at U.S. banks, causing investors to reduce their exposure to risky assets and unwind carry trades.

Oil fell more than $2 on Monday after a warning by top bank Citigroup of more write-downs related to risky U.S. mortgages heightened concern over the economic health of the world's biggest fuel consumer.

Airbus parent EADS warned on Monday of a bigger-than-expected charge of up to 1.4 billion euros ($2.03 billion) from delay of its A400M military plane, forcing it to shelve its 2007 operating profit forecast.

Ryanair on Monday posted a 26 percent rise in second-quarter net profit broadly in line with analysts' expectations and raised full-year guidance as it pointed to brighter prospects for the winter.

Heart-failure patients given AstraZeneca Plc's Crestor and standard drugs are just as likely to have heart attacks and strokes or die of cardiovascular problems as those on standard therapy alone, researchers said on Monday.

PepsiCo announced a restructuring on Monday that will split the food and beverage company into three units -- one for food in the United States, one for U.S. drinks and one for food and drinks abroad.

Tesco, the world's third-largest retailer, has begun its long-awaited launch in the United States, opening its first store near Los Angeles.

The Federal Reserve will have to cut its federal funds target rate to prevent a dramatic fall in housing prices in the wake of the subprime mortgage meltdown, the manager of the world's biggest bond fund said on Monday.

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Monday his firm's acquisition of a 1.6 percent stake in socializing Web site Facebook for $240 million was an important investment, not a mistake.

Shares in stricken British mortgage bank Northern Rock tumbled over 6 percent on Monday amid concerns that potential bidders will steer clear as the turmoil in global financial markets deepens.

The United States and Britain heaped pressure on Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Monday, urging him to hold elections on time, as police detained hundreds of lawyers angry at his imposition of emergency rule.

Charles Prince resigned on Sunday as chairman and chief executive of Citigroup Inc, as the bank said it may write off $11 billion of subprime mortgage losses, on top of a $6.5 billion write-down last quarter. Robert Rubin, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary who had chaired Citigroup's executive committee, was named chairman, while Sir Win Bischoff, who runs Citigroup's European operations, was named acting chief executive.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing , the world's most highly valued exchange with a staggering $36 billion capitalization, is still an attractive investment, given its strategic value will rise as its ties with mainland China inevitably deepen.

U.S. film and television writers went on strike on Monday, after last-minute talks aimed at averting the Writers Guild of America's first strike in almost two decades collapsed.

Oil prices fell over a dollar on Monday, dragged down by fears of an escalating fallout in top energy consumer the United States from the subprime crisis and by easing tensions in the Middle East.

China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) and U.S. private equity firms offered up to A$3 billion ($2.75 billion) on Monday for Australia's Nufarm Ltd, a deal that would create the world's largest generic farm chemicals firm.

A former Samsung Group legal executive went on live television on Monday to accuse South Korea's biggest conglomerate of operating huge slush funds to bribe prosecutors and officials.

Kraft Foods Inc is close to agreeing to a deal to sell its Post cereals business to store-brand food maker, Ralcorp Holdings Inc, for about $2.8 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.