CHINA

Google should carry out its threat to withdraw from China. The US search giant says a cyber-attack on its intellectual property, and attempts to access email data from human rights activists, have driven it to the edge.

Google Inc announced Tuesday it is no longer willing to continue censoring Internet search results in China, and that it may shut down the google.cn website and pull its offices in the country.

Google has embarked on a game of brinksmanship in China, saying it may quit the world's biggest Internet market by users after hackers apparently looking for information on dissidents broke into its China site.

China markets were still shaken on Wednesday, lagging behind others due to a lower economic outlook after the central bank raised the reserve requirement for banks.

Google Inc's threat to withdraw from China over censorship and cyber attacks has suddenly jeopardized any plans it has for the world's biggest Internet market, stunning investors and analysts.

Cyber attacks disclosed by Google and Adobe that may lead Google to quit China highlight a sophisticated type of bespoke cyberspying that could be more widespread than previously thought.

Google Inc said on Tuesday that it is considering shutting down its China operations and website after hackers in China coordinated a highly sophisticated cyber-attack on the Internet search giant in December and targeted at least a score of other major corporations.

Stocks edged lower on Wednesday as a fall in the price of oil weighed on energy shares and Google Inc slumped after it said it might withdraw from China, weighing on the Nasdaq.

China renewed its vow to curb runaway property prices and keep a watch on excessive lending, while investors rushed to cut exposure to risk on Wednesday, a day after the central bank tightened bank reserve requirements.

Wall Street looked set for a modest rise on Wednesday as a positive outlook from Kraft Foods Inc revived hopes for a strong earnings season, and Chinese Internet search engine Baidu Inc surged on news rival Google Inc may pull out of China.

ther internet search businesses operating in China could benefit from Google's possible exit from the market over censorship issues

An attack on Google and at least 20 other companies, that originated from China, seems to have exploited a vulnerability in the popular Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader software, possibly to steal proprietary codes.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday as a positive outlook from Kraft Foods Inc revived hopes of a strong earnings season, and Chinese Internet search engine Baidu Inc surged on news rival Google Inc may pull out of China.

Singapore's Dayen Environmental expects to be profitable in 2010, after posting losses for the past four years, and is aiming to win S$300 million of water contracts in Singapore and the region this year.

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro hit a one-month high against the dollar on Wednesday while higher-yielding currencies trimmed losses from the previous day as investors concluded China's surprise monetary tightening would not derail growth.

Google's announcement that it may quit China over censorship and hacking drew applause, warnings and bouquets from dissidents and Internet activists on Wednesday, with few seeing much chance of the wary government giving ground.

Google Inc threatened to quit China, the world's biggest Internet market, warning it would no longer tolerate strict censorship of its Google.cn search engine.

China's monetary tightening and disappointing corporate earnings put downward pressure on world stocks on Wednesday, combining to present investors with two of their biggest concerns.

Internet giant Google Inc has made a shock threat to quit China, the world's biggest Internet market by users, after hackers accessed human rights activists' e-mail accounts.

Chinese stocks led a drop in Asian equities on Wednesday as Beijing's surprise hike of banks' reserve requirements sparked investor concerns that the move could slow the country's purchases of natural resources and other imported goods from Asia.

Google Inc may pull out of China because of censorship and cyber attacks on rights activists, further straining Sino-U.S. relations as Washington prepared to tackle global Internet censorship.