IBT Staff Reporter

Royal Bank of Scotland is considering a plan which could result in the sale of just over 10 percent of its British branches in a move to ease EU concerns over state aid, a source familiar with the matter said.

The Unite trade union said on Tuesday it had struck a deal to secure the future of GM Opel car plants in Britain after the planned sale of the carmaker, which makes Vauxhall cars in the UK, to Canada's Magna (MGa.TO).

Moscow and Washington must agree on where the threats to their security come from before plans to cooperate on missile defense can progress, Russia's negotiator said.

It may have looked like a done deal for President Hamid Karzai and many Afghans when, one by one, key ethnic chiefs and regional power brokers threw their weight behind the incumbent ahead of the August 20 presidential election.

A security summit between China, Russia and their Central Asian neighbors wrapped up in Beijing on Wednesday with vague promises to deepen economic cooperation but no public mention of regional flashpoints like Afghanistan.

Rallying commodity markets are adding to profits of Wall Street houses like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, and banks are ramping up commodity desks again, a year after the recession cut into operations.

General Motors Co GM.UL said on Tuesday it would have a Flint, Michigan, plant retooled to produce engines for its upcoming Cruze small car and its Volt electric vehicle by late 2010.

Despite fears of failure facing global climate change negotiations in December, the U.N. climate panel chief said on Wednesday it was still possible to agree a pact, including levels of emission cuts by rich nations.

Britain will raise troop numbers in Afghanistan to 9,500, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday, an increase of 500, providing key conditions were met.

Sales at U.S. retailers fell in September, but rose excluding motor vehicles for a second straight month in September, raising cautious optimism consumer spending could support the economic recovery.

Stock futures pointed to a rise of more than 1 percent at the open on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co posted a surge in profit following stronger numbers from Intel Corp a day earlier.

Mexican auto production rose in September on a monthly basis for a third consecutive month, suggesting the sector is pulling out of a deep slump.

North Korea's neighbors and the United States are coordinating closely to draw the isolated state back to nuclear disarmament talks and reviewing possible next steps, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday.

Agreement between Magna and a UK labour union on Tuesday brought closer a final deal for General Motors [GM.UL] to sell a majority stake in its European carmaking arm Opel to a Canadian-Russian consortium.

General Motors Co aims to grow faster than China's auto market in 2010, its China chief said on Wednesday, after outperforming the country's overall market in the first three quarters.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ends her visit to Russia on Wednesday with a charm offensive to win public support for Washington's efforts to reset relations but no clear breakthroughs from formal talks.

France, Italy and Germany have written to the European Union's executive asking for a delay or softening to planned curbs on carbon dioxide emissions from new vans, EU diplomats say.

Canadian silver miner Pan American Silver Corp (PAA.TO) said on Wednesday it plans to acquire exploration company Aquiline Resources Inc (AQI.TO), in a deal valued at C$626 million ($609 million).

Ford Motor Co is expanding its largest ever recall -- involving faulty cruise control deactivation switches that have caused fires -- by 4.5 million vehicles, regulators and company officials said on Tuesday.

Brazil's government will use regulation and its financial muscle to trump a wave of foreign takeovers in the nation's pharmaceutical industry, the daily newspaper Valor Economico said on Wednesday, citing a top official.

The supervisory board of Vivendi (VIV.PA) will meet this afternoon amid speculation it could ditch its offer for Brazilian telecom company GVT GVTT.SA, a trade union source told Reuters on Wednesday.

The number of new apartments put up for sale in the Tokyo area rose 26.2 percent in September from a year earlier for the first rise in 25 months, a property market research firm said on Wednesday.

After a year most investors would like to forget, foreign real estate buyers are being swayed to spend again in New York City by a weak U.S. dollar and property prices at levels not seen for years, say experts.

Investors remain bullish about equities but not to the extent that it creates the risk of a sharp swing in sentiment, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Wednesday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a rise of more than 1 percent at the open on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) posted a surge in profit following stronger numbers from Intel Corp (INTC.O) a day earlier.

Private equity firm Blackstone Group's chief executive said the worst of the industry's problems were behind it, and dealflow and IPO opportunities were opening up again.

Stock futures pointed to a rise of more than 1 percent at the open on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co posted a surge in profit following stronger numbers from Intel Corp a day earlier.

After a slow start, the volume of bids on LoanMarket more than quadrupled in August, he said, adding the stabilization of the housing market and the economy may have played a part as well as the discounts available from banks and funds that need to unload underwater investments.

Avid golfer Bob Cano came to the Arizona sunbelt to buy his dream getaway property and ended up picking up three more distressed homes as prices fell to half of 2006 levels.