Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

BEIJING (Reuters) - Near zero U.S. interest rates would affect China's economy, a senior official at China's top economic planning agency said, but added it is too early to say the world economy is headed for another recession.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan sharpened its warning to currency markets on Thursday in the wake of the yen's rise near record highs against the dollar, keeping markets jittery about the possibility of a second round of intervention.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch acknowledged for the first time publicly that his son James is not the preferred choice to succeed him as News Corp CEO, at least in the near-term.

(Reuters) - The U.S. securities regulator is probing farm machine maker Deere & Co for possible violations of a law that bars American companies from bribing foreign officials, the Wall Street Journal said citing two people familiar with the matter.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev warned of challenging times in its biggest market, the United States, raising questions about whether it can keep hiking prices to counter sluggish sales.

HONG KONG/DUBAI (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp has held exploratory talks with the principal investment funds of Kuwait and Qatar about selling part of its $17 billion stake in China Construction Bank , three sources with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters.

American producers sold fewer industrial engines, electric generators and farm products to the rest of the world in June, pushing the trade deficit to the highest level since 2008 and dealing another blow to an already struggling economy.

France's top banker firmly defended the country's banks following a two-day sell-off that has wiped billions of euros from their market value as investors fear over their exposure to European government debt.

European stocks fell again Thursday as concerns over the financial health of French banks reignited, and any optimism over Wall Street's open dissipated.

Twenty-one months after Greece triggered financial and political turmoil by admitting it was broke, the eurozone still can't fix its debt crisis.

Kohl's Corp. reported that profit rose 17 percent in the second quarter despite the uncertain economy, in large part due to the success of its store-label brands such as Vera Vera Wang and Food Network. The company also raised its guidance for the full year.

The parent of American Airlines is one step closer to spinning off American Eagle as a separate company.

U.S. stock futures fell Thursday, following European markets lower and a day after another big drop on Wall Street.

Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti told lawmakers Thursday that tough and speedy measures are needed over the next two years to balance the budget in 2013.

Britain's Treasury chief George Osborne planned Thursday to defend his tough austerity plan after the Bank of England downgraded growth forecasts and warned of economic difficulties ahead.

Asian central bankers will likely pause measures to contain high inflation until global market turmoil subsides, the chief economist at the Asian Development Bank said.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week below 400,000 for the first time in four months, a sign that the job market is improving slowly after a recent slump.

American producers sold fewer industrial engines, electric generators and farm products to the rest of the world in June, pushing the trade deficit to the highest level since 2008 and dealing another blow to an already struggling economy.