CHINA

U.S. Senator John Kerry raised the possibility on Wednesday that a major energy and climate change bill he is trying to craft might not contain the cap and trade mechanism for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Mining equipment maker Joy Global Inc (JOYG.O) posted a 5 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by tighter cost controls, and said order rates would improve in 2010, sending its shares up 3 percent.

China Shipbuilding Industry Co made a tepid Shanghai debut, and China Pacific Insurance raised $3.1 billion in a Hong Kong IPO, as Beijing steps up the pace of stock offerings to fend off a speculative market bubble.

European leaders are courting some African, Asian and Latin American nations to counter the clout of China and the United States at the climate change talks in Copenhagen, French officials said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il amid efforts by the United States to persuade Pyongyang to return to nuclear disarmament talks.

The Chinese government's latest campaign against pornography on the Internet and through mobile WAP sites will continue through May next year, with an emphasis on breaking the business that support the sites, the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

World leaders took the stage at the largest ever climate talks on Wednesday as ministers scrambled to rescue troubled negotiations on a pact to avoid dangerous global warming.

Australia's central bank raised interest rates for a record third successive month earlier in December, pulling further back from emergency lows as the economy gallops ahead of its peers in the developed world.

China and the G77 claimed that the Copenhagen Climate talks have broken down, degenerating into a fight between developed and the developing world.

Asia's aggressive emission targets and legislation around carbon and power use are expected to drive demand for energy efficiency products and services, creating lucrative opportunities for investors in the sector.

Israel is using its civilian technological advances to enhance cyberwarfare capabilities, the senior Israeli spymaster said on Tuesday in a rare public disclosure about the secret program.

The following are some of the largest planned initial public offerings on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

A Michigan investment firm has finalized a deal to sell its 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers to a group led by Kenny Huang, bringing LeBron James' team a step closer to adding the National Basketball Association's first big Chinese investor.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed on Thursday to cooperate to lead the Copenhagen talks to the success.

General Motors Co Chairman and acting Chief Executive Ed Whitacre said on Tuesday luxury car maker Spyker is the only remaining party with which GM is negotiating for the sale of its Saab brand.

China on Tuesday warned Western countries against taking up the case of a prominent dissident, Liu Xiaobo, who is facing trial for subversion, after the United States and European Union called for his release.

China can become a powerful force to help developing nations fight both climate change and poverty with low-cost exports of wind or solar technologies, the head of the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) said.

Struggling Japanese chipmakers NEC Electronics and Renesas Technology said they aim to turn an operating profit in the first year after their merger next April by outsourcing production and eliminating business overlap.

China has so far weathered the global economic downturn with its growth rate staying robust and no sign the government faces any major challenge to its rule. Following is a summary of key China risks to watch:

A planned meeting of diplomats from major powers on Iran's nuclear program will not take place this year although discussions will continue by telephone, the State Department said on Monday.

A senior Chinese envoy said on Monday that developing nations' top concern at a slow-moving climate summit is securing funds from the rich to pay for carbon emissions cuts and cover the cost of adapting to a warmer world.