CHINA

Leading chemicals and biotech seed developer Monsanto Co reported a higher fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday, though results slightly beat Wall Street estimates, as a downturn in its herbicide business ate into revenues.

HSBC Holdings Plc is in advanced discussions to acquire the banking assets of Royal Bank of Scotland in three Asian countries, the Wall Street Journal online reported on Wednesday.

A prominent al Qaeda militant urged Uighurs in Xianjiang to make serious preparations for a holy war against oppressive China and called on fellow Muslims to offer support.

U.S. labor and manufacturing groups urged President Barack Obama on Tuesday to live up to his campaign rhetoric and formally label China a currency manipulator in a Treasury Department report due out next week.

HSBC Holdings Plc is in advanced discussions to acquire the banking assets of Royal Bank of Scotland in three Asian countries, the Wall Street Journal online reported on Wednesday.

Europe has launched a campaign to triple funding for energy research to 8 billion euros ($11.7 billion) a year in a technology race with China, Japan and the United States, but said industry would have to pay the bulk.

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminium group Alcoa (AA.N) the first in line.

Stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday, but could build on the previous session's gains on the strength in commodities.

Stock futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminum group Alcoa the first in line.

Americans will have to save more in the future, transforming the global economy, and Europeans and Japanese must work to boost domestic demand, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminium group Alcoa (AA.N) the first in line.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, extending the previous session's sharp gains and ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season, with aluminum group Alcoa the first in line.

Asian shares pushed up for a second day on Wednesday, with Taiwan's benchmark index nearing a 16-month high, as growing confidence in a strengthening global recovery boosted resource and financial companies.

Amazon.com Inc is introducing Kindle, its wireless electronic reader, in over 100 countries, including China and most of Europe, intensifying a battle for the burgeoning digital book market.

Asian shares pushed up for a second day on Wednesday, climbing back near a 13-month peak, as gold's surge to record highs and the dollar's tumble boosted resource shares.

Yum Brands Inc , parent of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC chains, posted a quarterly profit that blew past Wall Street's target, boosted by results from China, and raised its full-year profit forecast.

Yum Brands Inc , parent of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC chains, posted a quarterly profit that blew past Wall Street's target and raised its full-year profit forecast, sending shares up 2.6 percent.

Tibet's exiled religious leader, the Dalai Lama, brushed aside by U.S. President Barack Obama in favor of communist China, was saluted at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday for his work for human rights.

President Barack Obama breaks a precedent of not meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama during his five-day trip to Washington, but intends to meet the exiled leader sometime in December after his November Summit with Chinese president Hu Jintao.

The World Health Organization (WHO) restated its confidence in the H1N1 flu vaccine on Tuesday, calling it the most important tool against the pandemic.

Big oil producing nations denied a British newspaper report on Tuesday that Gulf Arab states were in secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies in trading oil.