It could soon pay more to write lengthier books, if you are an author self-publishing on Amazon.com Inc's Kindle ebook platform.

Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT.N) will lay off another 50 workers at its East Peoria, Illinois campus on Monday because of a downturn in demand for mining equipment, the company said.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday, with the Nasdaq closing at a record as hopes grew that a deal would be reached to prevent Greece from defaulting on loans.

Oil prices rose above $63 a barrel on Monday in response to new proposals from Greece that the European Union welcomed as a basis for progress at talks to try to stave off a default that could cause turmoil in financial markets.

The Bank of Japan said it expects factory output to fall for the first time in three quarters in April-June on weak Asian demand, underscoring the fragile nature of the economic recovery.

Surging investment by Chinese companies in U.S. research labs is yielding a fast-growing trove of patents, part of a push to mine America for ideas to help China shift from being the world's factory floor to a driver of innovation.

German business leaders urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to take a tough line with Greece at an emergency summit of euro zone leaders later on Monday, saying only reform concessions from Athens could keep the country in the euro zone.

Energy Transfer Equity LP confirmed it had made a $48 billion unsolicited bid for natural gas pipeline company Williams Companies Inc, hours after Williams rejected the offer as significantly too low.

Greek shares .ATG rose 6.8 percent in morning trade on Monday on hopes that Greece was closer to reaching a deal with its international lenders.

European private equity fund CVC and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek [TEM.UL] are to buy a controlling stake in the pharmaceutical firm Alvogen, its chairman and chief executive said.