IBT Staff Reporter

Oil rose to $72 per barrel on Wednesday after news Chinese manufacturing growth accelerated last month, easing concerns over the pace of economic recovery.

Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered a manufacturing rebound in China and rosier-than-expected Australian growth, which halted the yen's advance towards a 15-year peak against the dollar.

U.S. President Barack Obama was poised on Wednesday to launch a new U.S. push for Middle East peace even as a flare-up of Hamas violence and a deadlock over Israeli settlements loomed as potential deal-breakers.

LOS ANGELES - Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich are launching an online reality experiment in which viewers decide every major decision a person makes for six weeks.

Burger King Holdings Inc , the No. 2 U.S. hamburger chain, has been considering a possible sale and has held talks with potential buyers, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

The trial of a former mayor accused of masterminding the massacre of 57 people in the southern Philippines last November was adjourned again for a week on Wednesday, frustrating state lawyers and families of victims.

Genzyme Corp Chief Executive Henri Termeer said he is willing to sell the company he built up over 25 years, but not for $69 a share.

Over-ambitious TV sales targets have left manufacturers with a glut of panels that is driving down prices as makers offload their excess output, Panasonic Corp's <6752.T> television unit head said on Tuesday.

Sony Corp, hoping to spur sales ahead of the holiday shopping season, has slimmed down its electronic readers and also given them touchscreen control.

Burger King Holdings Inc , the No. 2 U.S. hamburger chain, has been talking to private equity firms for a possible sale, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard forged an alliance with the Greens party on Wednesday to take her party closer to forming a government, but vowed not to allow the deal to change her plans for a tax on miners' profits.

Stock futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.3 to 0.7 percent, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Wednesday.

Retailers from Europe and Southeast Asia are expected to submit bids for Carrefour SA's roughly $1 billion (650 million pounds)-worth of Asian assets, with first-round offers due on Wednesday, sources said, in what is turning out to be a robust auction.

A law firm hired by the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc has demanded trading records, email and other material for all of 2008 from a few hedge funds and Goldman Sachs , the New York Times said.

Software giant Microsoft Corp is looking for a partner in China to help the company play a major role in China's internet search market, Wall Street Journal said.

China's manufacturing economy staged a moderate rebound in August after slowing for several months under the onslaught of government measures to rein in credit and deter property speculation.

Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered a manufacturing rebound in China and rosier-than-expected Australian growth, which halted the yen's advance toward a 15-year peak against the dollar.

Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered a manufacturing rebound in China and stronger-than-expected growth in Australia, while the yen inched up towards a 15-year peak against the dollar.

Hitachi Ltd <6501.T> is planning an initial public offering of its hard-drive unit in the United States, possibly by year's end, sources familiar with the situation said.

Gold dropped from a two-month high in Asian trade Wednesday but likely to regain momentum on new reports of improving consumer confidence and home sales in the US.

Citigroup Inc plans to almost triple its workforce in China by hiring up to 7,500 people in the next three years, an executive told Bloomberg in an interview published on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama declared an end to the seven-year U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday and promised recession-weary Americans my central responsibility now is to repair the U.S. economy.

Burger King Holdings Inc, the No. 2 U.S. hamburger chain, has been considering a possible sale and has held talks with potential buyers, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

China's manufacturing sector regained some momentum in August while India and Russia continued to power ahead, cheering investors in the face of signs that sputtering U.S. recovery was cooling global demand.

Mexico paraded one of its most violent drug lords on Tuesday after a police raid that President Felipe Calderon's government hopes will mark a breakthrough in its campaign against powerful cartels.

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility for killing four Jewish settlers in the West Bank in an attack that blighted a Middle East peace summit before it even began in Washington Wednesday.

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President Barack Obama declared an end to the seven-year U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday and told war-weary Americans his central responsibility now is to restore the sagging U.S. economy.