U.S.

G-7 Signals Concern Over Dollar Slide, Anticipates Weaker Economic Growth Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven nations signaled concern on the dollar's slide and said the global economic slowdown may worsen amid an ``entrenched'' credit squeeze.

Paulson Calls on IMF to Improve Its Monitoring of Global Financial Markets U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged the International Monetary Fund to adapt quickly to the growing complexities of the global financial system and improve its monitoring of currency markets.

Citigroup Drops Planned Sale of EMI Loans Amid Credit Squeeze, Person Says Citigroup Inc., the U.S. bank that financed private-equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd.'s purchase last year of music company EMI Group Plc, has decided not to sell about $5 billion of loans provided for the transaction, a person familiar with the matter said.

Shell Shuts Oil Pipeline From Gulf of Mexico to Midwest After Leak Found Royal Dutch Shell Plc said a leak forced the shutdown of a crude oil pipeline that moves more than 1 million barrels a day from the Gulf of Mexico to Midwestern refiners, cutting supplies at a time of near-record prices.

GE Unexpectedly Cuts Forecast; Profit Falls for First Time in Five Years General Electric Co. stunned investors after Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt unexpectedly cut the annual profit forecast yesterday and quarterly earnings fell for the first time in five years.

Citigroup's Market Value Drops Below Apple's After Loss on Subprime Debt At the end of 2006, Citigroup Inc. was the fourth-largest company in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, with a market value of $274 billion, almost four times that of Apple Inc. Now investors say the maker of iPods is worth $7.7 billion more than the biggest financial services provider.

Latin America

Mantega Urges IMF to Increase Credit to Emerging Economies During Crises The International Monetary Fund should boost available credit for emerging economies during crises to help the countries recover more quickly, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said.

Venezuela Begins Talks on Nationalization of Cement Makers, Ramirez Says Venezuela has started negotiations with three foreign cement companies to nationalize their local subsidiaries, Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said.

Guatemala Will Battle Rising Food Costs to Protect the Poor, Fuentes Says Guatemala, the country with the highest rate of undernourished children in Latin America, will battle rising food costs to protect poor families, government officials said.

Chile Intervention Threatens to Spark Inflation, Barclays's Valdes Says Chile's decision to increase international reserves by selling pesos and buying U.S. dollars may accelerate inflation, said Rodrigo Valdes, a former head of research at the country's central bank.

Peru Sol Sinks After Central Bank Triples Foreigners' Reserve Requirements Peru's sol had its biggest decline in almost three months after the central bank tripled the reserve requirement on foreigners' deposits in local banks to curb capital inflows.

Penoles' Silver Unit Fresnillo to Raise $900 Million in Initial Offering Industrias Penoles SAB, the world's largest silver producer, plans to raise about $900 million by selling shares in its Fresnillo Ltd. unit to expand mines and cut debt. Penoles rose the most in more than four years to a record in Mexico City trading.

Exclusive

Subprime Forces Insurers to Reduce CEOs' Pay More Than Hurricanes Ever Did Subprime mortgages have proved to be a bigger catastrophe for captains of the insurance industry than any natural disaster.

FAA's Sturgell Strands Air Travelers With Safety Crackdown After Criticism Robert Sturgell, a federal agency chief unknown to most air travelers, helped strand 273,000 of them by cracking down on safety after being criticized for doing too little.

Amgen Develops Six Cancer Drugs to Replace Revenue Lost in Anemia Decline Amgen Inc., the world's largest biotechnology company by sales, is developing six cancer drugs to help recover from a decline in its anemia products.

Siemens Bribery Investigation Extended to Transmissions Unit, People Say Siemens AG, Europe's biggest engineering company, is facing a probe into possible bribery at the division that makes equipment and cables used by the energy industry, said two people with direct knowledge of the case.

Chile Thirsts for Rain as Goats Drop, Energy Prices Soar, Mines Face Cuts The reservoir at the Laja dam south of Santiago gauges Chile's predicament: It has been less than half full since August.

CEOs Pushing Ayn Rand Studies Use Donations to Overcome Resistance to Galt Ayn Rand's novels of headstrong entrepreneurs' battles against convention enjoy a devoted following in business circles. While academia has failed to embrace Rand, calling her philosophy simplistic, schools have agreed to teach her works in exchange for a donation.