The World Trade Organization opened an investigation into Chinese restrictions on the sale of American movies, music and books ?Washington's fourth commercial complaint against Beijing in a little over a year.
The European Union has thrown a last-minute hurdle in Ukraine's path to enter the World Trade Organization, trade officials said, but the former Soviet republic was still expected to join before neighboring Russia.
French nuclear engineering company Areva SA hopes to sell as many as six additional third-generation nuclear reactors to China following its record US$11.9 billion (?8 billion) order this week to build and supply fuel for two, a top executive said.
The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which has been under intense pressure from anti-smoking groups and members of the U.S. Congress over print ads for its cigarettes, said it would not advertise its brands in newspapers or consumer magazines next year.
Mining giant BHP Billiton vowed to keep pressing its US$150 billion (?101 billion) bid to merge with Rio Tinto, telling shareholders Wednesday it was a compelling step despite the rival company's resistance and customers'concerns.
Freddie Mac halved its dividend and unveiled plans to sell $6 billion (?4.03 billion) of preferred stock to bolster the mortgage investor's finances in anticipation of more losses, the company said.
Wells Fargo &Co. is absorbing $1.4 billion (?940 million) in losses on home equity loans that borrowers have stopped repaying amid a deepening real estate slump that has turned into a financial sinkhole.
A Samsung Electronics Co. official said Wednesday that a bribery scandal engulfing the Samsung Group conglomerate is no major cause for concern as he outlined ambitious growth plans for the technology giant.
Gurinder Singh's lawyers say he would still have a father if a faulty seatbelt in the family car had unlatched instead of pinning his dad inside the flaming Toyota Corolla where he lost his life.
Three British bankers set to go to trial in January on Enron-related fraud charges have agreed to plead guilty in the case, according to a newspaper report.
The Chinese government is watching talks on mining giant BHP Billiton's bid for rival Rio Tinto and is hoping to see stable iron ore prices regardless of the outcome, a government spokesman said.
