CHINA

China Unicom will probably launch a Wi-Fi-enabled iPhone in China, Sina Tech reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source close to the country's internet watchdog.

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has not quit the band, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, denying a news report from Australia.

European shares closed lower for a third straight day on Wednesday, with financial stocks suffering the most, as investors took profits after a strong run in recent months.

Taiwan officials have asked the Dalai Lama to cancel public speeches and media events on the island under pressure from an angry China, which fears he will talk politics, a Tibetan legislator said on Wednesday.

Two U.S. journalists held by North Korea for illegal entry admitted they crossed into the reclusive state, but said North Korean guards arrested them on the Chinese side of the border and dragged them back into the country.

General Motors Co GM.UL said on Wednesday its China vehicles sales in August jumped 112.7 percent from a year earlier, paving the way for a more than 40 percent rise in sales for the full year.

Oil rose above $68 a barrel on Wednesday, after a 3 percent drop in the previous session, as data showing a fall in U.S. crude stocks raised expectations of demand growth in the world's biggest energy consumer.

Stock index futures were flat on Wednesday ahead of private labor market data, even as BP Plc shares rose after it reported a giant oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico.

China is backsliding on reforms to open up its economy to foreign business, thereby hindering competition and imperiling its shift to a new model of sustainable growth, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said on Wednesday.

The U.S. manufacturing sector grew for the first time in 19 months in August and home sales contracts hit a two-year high in July, more evidence the economy was pulling out of the worst recession in 70 years, reports on Tuesday showed.

The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods.

Canada will apply existing foreign ownership laws to PetroChina's bid to buy Canadian oil sands assets but will not introduce further barriers to investing in the country, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday.

China, India, the United States and Germany are looking to replace old coal-fired energy plants, helping make up for slack overall global demand, Hitachi Power Europe's business development manager said.

Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch upgraded Coach Inc to buy from neutral, citing a successful start to the handbags and accessories maker's strategy of lowering price points.

Manufacturers from several nations delivered upbeat news on Tuesday, indicating a recovery from the deepest global recession since World War Two is gradually gaining traction.

Lenovo, the world's No. 4 PC brand, says it plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange when rules permit, opening an opportunity for the firm in one of the world's best performing stock markets.

Gain Capital Holdings Inc, an online provider of retail foreign exchange trading services, is planning to raise up to $125 million in the public markets, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

NEW YORK - Strong economic data on the manufacturing sector helped boost U.S. industrial shares in early trading on Tuesday, amid optimism the sector's earnings bottomed out in the second quarter and are set to improve.

NEW YORK - U.S. copper futures headed higher at the open on Tuesday, recovering a portion of the prior session's steep losses, as equity markets regained their footing and manufacturing and housing data suggested the economic recovery was on track.

China's Yunnan province is investigating possible lead poisoning in its capital city of Kunming, while smelter officials in its top lead producing city, Gejiu, are worried the provincial government may close local smelters with half a million tonnes of annual capacity.

Japan's Democratic Party, set to take power after a landslide election win on Sunday, has promised deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and more renewable energy use.