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Swiss drug maker Novartis will pay $12.9 billion to buy the remaining shares of Alcon it doesn't already own to broaden its presence in the booming eye-care market, which is expected to outgrow the pharmaceuticals market in coming years.

U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Monday, following the gains in global equities, after Chinese policymakers refrained from raising interest rates over the weekend.

'Farmville' maker Zynga Inc said it has acquired Texas-based mobile game development company Newtoy, Inc. for undisclosed terms to boost its social gaming portfolio.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has announced that it has acquired Swedish UI design company The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) to spruce up its PlayBook UI.

Seagate' announcement that it has ended talks with private equity group over taking the company private is not exactly a surprise, an analyst with ThinkEquity said.

Reports on Tuesday suggested that Google's bid to acquire collective-buying site Groupon now stands at $5.3 billion compared to earlier estimates that quantified the deal at $2.5 billion.

In a deal worth $2.5 billion Google is rumored to have acquired the collective daily deal provider Groupon, beating Yahoo, to capture the hottest company on the web.

Novell's Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon said on Wednesday that UNIX copyrights are in Novell's hands, quieting fears that Microsoft had clinched its UNIX copyrights.

J. Crew's takeover has boosted the stock prices of several other retailers, possibly because this acquisition is stoking M&A interest in the broad sector.

Energy firm Dynegy Inc said it intends to terminate the merger deal with Blackstone Group and seeks new proposals from potentially interested parties.

Attachmate Corp, an investment group owned by Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital and Thoma Bravo, said it will buy networking solutions company Novell, Inc. for about $2.2 billion.

The stage is set for another wave of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. technology sector as the big players, who are flush with cash and looking to expand their horizon, are acquiring aggressively in quest for new products and technology.

China on Friday rejected criticism by the Hillary Clinton over Internet censorship and warned the US not to allow the issue to damage bilateral relations.

Standard & Poor's Maalot unit said on Thursday it lowered its rating on bonds issued by Israel's MA Industries to AA- from AA, citing an erosion of the financial profile of the world's biggest maker of generic agrochemicals.

A bid for J Sainsbury Plc may not be imminent, but its property assets, growth plans and uncertainty over the intentions of its top investor could keep it a focus of speculation, and its stock in demand.

Asia is going to be way short of the new H1N1 vaccine to fight swine flu when the next surge of infections hits during the cold season this year, a spokesman for the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

A Spanish woman died at 69 on Saturday after getting in vitro fertilization treatment at a clinic in Los Angeles. The woman is believed to be the world's oldest new mother when she gave birth at 66, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Frederick Ma says more than 1,000 submissions have been received for the tax-reform consultaton, adding the proposed sales tax is the best option to maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness and broaden its tax base.