CHINA

Bank of China, a big market-maker in China's onshore foreign exchange market, has stopped foreign exchange forwards and swaps trading with several European banks due to the unfolding debt crisis in Europe, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The so-called Apple iPhone 5 release saga is getting twisted every other day with new rounds of rumors. With the most highly anticipated product launch nearing day by day, the rumor mills seem to get intensified even more.

Standard & Poor's cut Italy's credit rating on Tuesday in a surprise move that increased strains on the debt-stressed euro zone and raised pressure on policymakers to take more decisive action to resolve the crisis.

China must reduce barriers to foreign companies if it is to meet its own development goals, the U.S. ambassador said in Beijing on Tuesday in a speech that reflected foreign investors' growing frustration with the pace of economic reforms in the country.

Standard & Poor's cut its unsolicited ratings on Italy by one notch on Tuesday, a surprise move that sharply increases strains on the debt-stressed euro zone and piles pressure on policymakers to take more decisive action to resolve the crisis.

Ever since Samsung introduced the Galaxy S line of smartphone in June 2010, it has entrenched its position as one of the best smartphone manufacturers in the market and put up a strident attack on Apple iPhone's dominance.

Joining an array of international celebrities for the celebration of the luxe brand Moët and Chandon's success with the Tribute to the Spirit of 1743 was Moët Ambassador Scarlett Johansson.

Bank of China, a big market-maker in China's onshore foreign exchange market, has stopped foreign exchange forwards and swaps trading with several European banks due to the unfolding debt crisis in Europe, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Brazil will propose that it and other large emerging market countries make billions of dollars in new funds available to the International Monetary Fund as a way to help ease the crisis in the euro zone, an official said on Monday.

China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, will keep buying U.S. Treasuries, the official People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece reported on Tuesday, citing government researchers.

With anticipation growing for Apple's next smartphone to hit shelves, industry watchers on Monday said the company could even roll out two devices: the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4 Plus.

The head of the World Bank on Monday said a drop in investor confidence was already feeding through to developing nations from a growing debt crisis in advanced economies and urged cooperative action.

Mongolia's law banning mining in the country's river and forest areas is necessary to protect the mineral-rich Asian country's environment and herdsmen's livelihoods, President Tsakhia Elbegdorj said on Monday.

Mark Moskowitz from J.P. Morgan expects Apple to unveil an iPhone 5 and iPhone 4-plus this fall, and believes the iPad 3 release date has been pushed back to 2012.

The European Union will call on China this week to boost domestic demand and on the United States and Japan to tackle their public deficits as part of global efforts to rebalance growth, an EU document showed.

Shareholders are likely snapping up Apple stock in anticipation of the next generation of iPhone products – the iPhone 5, which many analysts say will receive unprecedented demand.

None of India's 20 nuclear power plants were disturbed by the earthquake, officials said Monday. The nuclear facility closest to the quake's epicenter is the Narora Power Station, some 800 miles to the west. The quake hit Sunday night, and the death toll has reached 74 people.

While speculation in recent months has run in every direction about when Apple's iPhone 5 will be released and what new features and design the product will have a new report suggests the company will do what many did not expect -- releasing two new iPhone handsets.

China will be the dominant economic power in 2030, even if the U.S. economy stages a turnaround as it did in the 1990s, argues Arvind Subramanian, author of upcoming book Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China's Economic Dominance.

Zambia's police chief deployed thousands of officers across the southern African country on Monday, the eve of a closely contested election between incumbent Rupiah Banda and nationalist opposition leader Michael Sata.

President Hugo Chavez's government formalized the nationalization of Venezuela's gold industry on Monday with a decree that prohibits exports of the metal and gives the state 55 percent of joint ventures.