News on China

Mining giant Rio Tinto on Friday confirmed a huge take-up for its record rights offering after investors snapped up the Australian portion, allowing it to pay off a large chunk of its heavy debt. The dual-listed firm, whose share offer came at rock-bottom prices in Sydney and London, announced a 95 percent subscription among Australian investors following a 97 percent take-up in Britain. Rio can now slash its debt bill incurred by last year's acquisition of Canada's Alcan. The offering, worth 15.2 billion dollars (9.3 billion ...

Russia is using its energy wealth to shore up influence abroad, pouring billions of dollars in loans and grants into former Soviet states and long-standing allies — even as it faces its own severe economic downturn. Faced with its own economic crisis, the Kremlin could have downplayed its drive to reclaim its former status as a "great power" and fight fires at home. Instead, armed with cash hoarded during years of high oil prices, Russia ...

Rampant piracy and a crumbling market for CDs has put the music industry in Asia under immense pressure, but experts are hoping that technology and social media will help fill the gap. While demand for music continues to rise across the region, the global economic downturn has accelerated the Internet-fueled fall in sales of physical music. "Consumers are enjoying more hours of music, they just ain't paying for it," said Marcel Fenez, of PricewaterhouseCoopers' entertainment and media practice. "The recession is accelerating a migration to digital," he said. "The ...