Congress returns for its lame-duck session with a major issue facing members: whether to bail out the imperiled domestic auto industry.

The travails of a young company in Moscow offer a glimpse into the toll that the global financial crisis is taking on the budding entrepreneurial culture in Russia.

Epoch Films is starting Dandelion, a newcomer to the ranks of what are called brand storytellers.

Reuters - Asian stocks mostly rose and government bonds cut their gains on Monday, on hopes for more government rescues of limping industries and as long-term investors scooped up cheap shares.

AP - Weak October retail sales and the uncertainty of the upcoming holiday season amid the worst financial crisis to hit the U.S. in decades has prompted shipping giant UPS Inc. to decide not to release a projection for the amount of packages it expects to deliver on its busiest day of the year.

Japan's economy falls into its first recession since 2001 after shrinking by 0.1% in the July to September quarter.

The CBI says the UK economy will shrink by 1.7% in 2009, with unemployment rising to nearly 3 million by 2010.

Online fashion retailer ASOS sees half-year profits jump 68% and says it is cautiously optimistic despite the economic downturn.

Reuters - Asian stocks slipped on Monday in choppy trade, despite some buying of Japanese shares by long-term investors, on expectations corporate results will reflect deteriorating economic conditions until at least the second half of 2009.

Oil prices fall on more bad economic news and after Opec hinted it would not cut oil production soon.

Struggling General Motors is selling its 3% stake in the Japanese carmaker Suzuki for $230m (£156m) to raise cash.

Small firms in Osaka hope to weather economic storm

London could be set to bear the brunt of the economic downturn while other cities weather the storm, a report says.

Reuters - Stocks pointed to a higher open on Monday, reversing some of the sharp losses endured on Friday when dismal monthly retail sales triggered a sell-off. At 5:18 a.m. EST, S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures were up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 1 percent.

Reuters - Japan became the latest major economy to fall into recession on Monday with France close behind, and the IMF said it needed at least $100 billion to fight the billowing economic crisis enveloping the world.

The eurozone records a trade deficit in September compared with a surplus for the same month last year.

The CBI says the UK economy will shrink by 1.7% in 2009, with unemployment rising to nearly 3 million by 2010.

The US economy is already in recession, according to a panel of forecasters, and is set to shrink by 2.6% in the fourth quarter.

Rising sales to Eastern European nations mean exports of UK food and drink are on track for a record high in 2008, a report suggests.

Stella Artois brewer Inbev gets approval from regulators to take over Budweiser maker Anheuser Busch in a $52bn deal.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc CEO Pandit will announce job cuts of up to 50,000, according to a report on Monday by CNBC. Highlights:

Reuters - Lowe's Companies Inc on Monday reported third-quarter earnings per share of $0.33. Highlights:

The banking giant Citigroup announced that it would cut 50,000 jobs in the coming quarters, largely by selling assets.

Stocks fell in Europe after a summit in Washington failed to offer new remedies for the ailing global financial system and data showed that Japan?s economy fell into recession in the third quarter.

A weak retail environment and lower sales at established stores caused third-quarter profit to fall 24 percent, the discount retailer said.

Phil Gramm pushed laws that he says unshackled businesses from restraints but critics say contributed to the financial crisis.

US bank Citigroup announces plans for about 53,000 new job cuts, on top of a previously announced total of some 22,000.

UBS and Goldman Sachs will not pay bonuses to their top executives in 2008, the banking giants reveal.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc said on Monday it plans to cut about 50,000 jobs as souring economies and global credit conditions cause the U.S. bank with the farthest reach worldwide to retrench.

Reuters - Stocks opened lower on Monday after Japan became the latest major economy to slide into recession and Citigroup said it plans to cut 50,000 jobs, heightening fears the global economic slump has yet to reach its trough.

Reuters - Target Corp reported its fifth consecutive drop in quarterly profit on Monday, on dwindling demand for its trendy merchandise from shoppers who face tighter budgets and are struggling to make payments on the discount retailer's credit cards.

Reuters - Lowe's Companies , the second-largest home improvement retailer, posted a lower quarterly profit on Monday and cut its full-year forecast as the deepening economic crisis led homeowners to put off big-ticket purchases.

AP - Discount retailer Target Corp. said Monday that a difficult retail environment and weak results from its credit-card segment led to a 24 percent decline in third-quarter earnings.

Shares fell after a weekend summit in Washington failed to offer new remedies for the global financial system and data from Tokyo showed Japan?s economy fell into recession in the third quarter.

The Federal Reserve said that industrial output rose 1.3 percent last month, reflecting a return to more normal operations after hurricanes and a strike at Boeing in September.

A weak retail environment and lower sales at established stores hit third-quarter profit, the discount retailer said.

Third-quarter profit fell 24 percent as consumers delayed home-improvement projects and big-ticket purchases, but the results still beat Wall Street?s expectations.

US bank Citigroup announces plans for about 52,000 new job cuts, on top of 23,000 cuts already made this year.

US industrial output rebounds with a 1.3% rise after a sharp fall in September, the Federal Reserve says.

Bank JP Morgan is to move its European HQ to a £237m plot of land at London's Canary Wharf.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc revealed plans to cut 52,000 jobs by early next year in Chief Executive Vikram Pandit's most dramatic move yet to restore profitability and bolster a sagging share price.

Reuters - Stocks slid on Monday after Citigroup Inc. said it planned more than 50,000 job cuts and Japan, the world's second-largest economy, slid into recession, adding to a bleaker global economic and profit outlook.

Reuters - Target Corp posted a nearly 24 percent drop in profit as an economic downturn curtails shoppers' ability to splurge on the discount retailer's trendy wares and make payments on its credit cards.

Reuters - Bank of America Corp said on Monday it would boost its stake in China's third-largest bank, China Construction Bank (0939.HK), to 19.1 percent from 10.75 percent.

Reuters - Lowe's Cos reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday as sales of hurricane-repair and outdoor goods helped offset weakness in big-ticket projects, sending shares up 8 percent.

Wall Street clawed back from its early losses on Monday despite more bad news from retailers and the manufacturing sector.

A complaint alleged that the billionaire entrepreneur sold stock in an Internet company based on nonpublic information.

Google is getting caught in a web of privacy laws that threaten its growth and the positive image it has cultivated as a company dedicated to doing good.

Oil prices have risen after surprisingly good US industrial output figures and warnings of cold weather.

Bank JP Morgan is to move its European HQ to a £237m plot of land at London's Canary Wharf.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc revealed plans to cut 52,000 jobs by early next year in a dramatic move to restore the No. 2 U.S. bank to health as it combats mounting debt losses and sagging economies worldwide.

Reuters - Stocks were little changed in light volume on Monday as bargain-hunting offset worries about the global economic and profit outlook after Japan became the latest major economy to slide into recession.

Reuters - Target Corp posted a nearly 24 percent drop in profit as an economic downturn curtails shoppers' ability to splurge on the discount retailer's trendy wares and make payments on its credit cards.

AP - Putnam Investments said Monday it will cut 47 jobs, or nearly 2 percent of the work force, and merge six of the company's stock mutual funds into larger funds as part of a broad restructuring under its new chief executive.

AP - Target Corp. said Monday it will aggressively cut prices to give consumers bargains during the holiday season, even as weak sales of its apparel and home offerings led third-quarter earnings to fall 24 percent.

The Swiss banking giant joined Goldman Sachs in saying that its top executives would get no bonus this year as public scrutiny of bankers? compensation intensified.

One of the longest relationships in advertising is coming to an end as PepsiCo shifts the creative duties in the United States for Pepsi-Cola from BBDO Worldwide to TBWA/Chiat/Day.

The decision to close Play, which was first published in February 2006, marks another in a long list of contractions in the newspaper and magazine industries.

Reuters - Stocks slid on Monday as the global economic outlook worsened, with Japan becoming the latest major economy to slide into recession and Citigroup Inc. revealed plans to slash 15 percent of its workforce.

The banking giant announced Monday that it would cut another 24,000 jobs, bringing its total reductions in the coming months to 52,000.

Wall Street started another decline in the last hour of trading after clawing back from early losses as buyers struggled with troubling news from disparate corners of the financial world.

Employees on business trips, well aware of the economic downturn, are increasingly responsive to management?s call to cut travel costs.

Reuters - Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig said on Monday the U.S. central bank has done what it can to buffer the economy through a downturn, and a painful process of readjustment is likely ahead.

A struggling Silicon Valley maker of flash memory chips filed a pair of sweeping patent infringement suits on Monday against Samsung of South Korea.

The Federal Reserve said that industrial output rose 1.3 percent last month, reflecting a return to more normal operations after hurricanes and a strike at Boeing in September.

Democrats and Republicans clash over a $25bn (£17bn) bailout plan for America's biggest car firms.

The BBC-branded container, prepares to leave Shanghai

Small firms in India come under pressure

Official figures due out later on Tuesday are expected to show that UK inflation fell to 4.8% in October.

Reuters - Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig said on Monday the U.S. central bank has done what it can to buffer the economy through a downturn, and a painful process of readjustment is likely ahead.

Yahoo said Jerry Yang, its chief executive, would leave that role after the company finds a replacement.

The Swiss banking giant joined Goldman Sachs in saying that its top executives would get no bonus this year as public scrutiny of bankers? compensation intensified.

Google is getting caught in a web of privacy laws that threaten its growth and the positive image it has cultivated as a company dedicated to doing good.

Export Development Canada has stopped writing new polices to protect Canadian auto parts makers in the event of a bankruptcy filing by Chrysler.

Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday that solid progress has been made in stabilizing the U.S. financial system but it will take considerable time to restore it to health.

The Detroit auto companies and the United Automobile Workers union face waves of criticism as they argue for a federal bailout.

As America?s newspapers shrink, a new kind of Web-based news operation has arisen in several cities, forcing the papers to follow the stories they uncover.

Yahoo said Mr. Yang, who helped build the company into an Internet giant, would step down from his role as chief executive.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit charging the Internet entrepreneur with insider trading for selling shares of an Internet search company in 2004.

The retail industry, including stores such as Lowe?s and Target, continued to see signs of a sharp pullback in consumer spending, both online and in stores.

There is a fix to G.M.?s ongoing dance with disaster. Call it a government-sponsored bankruptcy.

Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo, is to stand down as the internet portal's chief executive officer.