IBT Staff Reporter

Google Inc may partner with another Chinese company in an effort to capture the Chinese market after two years of operation in the region with stiff competition from Baidu.com Inc which leads the market and provides free, unlicensed music downloads.

Copper futures climbed on Wednesday as supplies of the red metal stored in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell.

Platinum futures scaled a record high above $1,819 an ounce early Wednesday on continued concerns over supplies from top producer South Africa after the country started experiencing power cuts which have hindered mining operations. Gold also rose on investor demand.

Crude oil declined more than $1 on Wednesday after weekly inventories surpassed forecasted gains, increasing worries of a slump in demand.

The launch of Atlantis shuttle to the international space station may be delayed again due to bad weather as a result of the tornadoes and thunderstorms that swept through the US on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

At least 45 people confirmed dead, more than 150 others seriously injured when the tornadoes and thunderstorms struck five US states.

Cotton prices increased on Wednesday after a decline of the dollar made exports cheaper.

Corn and soybeans gained on Wednesday amid expectations that increasing global demand will reduce inventories for the two crops before next harvests.

U.S. stocks retreated after the markets single-plunge in nearly a year on Wednesday after Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said he was against overly aggressive rate cuts.

After being on the market for slightly over 200 days, Apple's iPhone managed to take second place in the U.S smartphone market behind Research in Motion's venerable Blackberry, and ahead of Motorola offerings, but some experts contend the growth may shot lived unless the firm's business model changes.

It has become pretty clear that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang does not want to merge the company he co-founded as a Stanford student with Microsoft.

A British travel company has paid 560,000 pounds ($1.1 mln) for the domain name cruises.co.uk, a price that is effectively $1 million just for the letter S since it already owns the address cruise.co.uk.

Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, six of which were found in his body, according to results of a toxicology test released Wednesday by the New York City medical examiner's office.

The yen rose against the dollar and euro on Wednesday after Asian stocks plunged amid worries about the U.S. economy.

Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media conglomerate, reported Wednesday fourth-quarter and full-year results which were roughly in line with Wall Street's expectations, as strong gains in cable television and from the sale of AOL's online access business in Europe.

The Writers Guild of America plans to brief its members this weekend on a deal taking shape to end their 3-month-old strike, using the meetings to gauge rank-and-file support for the labor plan, union leaders said on Tuesday.

Web search leader Google Inc is planning to boost its presence in China by tying up with a Chinese online music company to provide free music downloads, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Skeptical investors are trading Yahoo Inc shares at a 6.5 percent discount to Microsoft Corp's unofficial offer price, but some Wall Streeters expect the software giant to raise its bid.

Kenya's political rivals resumed crisis talks on Wednesday despite preparations for a meeting of east African foreign ministers which has angered opposition leaders.

France's defense minister flew to Chad on Wednesday in a show of support for President Idriss Deby who survived a weekend assault on the capital N'Djamena by rebels.

The London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games has announced British Airways as the fourth Tier One sponsor of the London Games.

Rupert Murdoch, Chair of global media giant News Corporation, has said that he would not be making a rival bid for Yahoo, in response to Microsoft's $44.6 billion offer made last week.

The good news for the environment is that U.S. consumers who bought new mobile handsets in the fourth quarter of 2007 recycled their old phones at double the rate that they did in the third quarter.

Domain company Go Daddy single Super Bowl ad within an ad drew nearly four times the Internet traffic of its three ads last year, the company said.

News Corp's Fox brought in $250 million in advertising revenue on the strength of the most-watched Super Bowl ever, according to news reports.

Walt Disney reported greater than expected sales and earnings for its latest quarter on Tuesday mainly to its ESPN cable network and its theme park business as it sought to reassure investors the weakening economy was not affecting the media conglomerate.

Gold futures dropped sharply to end below $900 an ounce Tuesday, the lowest in more than a week, as a surge in the U.S. dollar lowered investment demand for the precious metal. Silver also declined.

U.S. stocks tumbled the most in almost a year on Tuesday after service industries contracted at the fastest pace since 2001, adding to mounting concern the economy is already in a recession.

Reflecting the availability and the falling costs of memory chips, Apple introduced a 16-GB iPhone and a 32-GB iPod touch on Tuesday, however maintained the same price points as the previous iteration of the products.