Business News - AP

BANGKOK, Thailand - Oil prices rebounded Wednesday in Asia from a tumble of more than $5 in the previous session after Iran test-fired nine missiles, renewing fears of a conflict that could cut global oil supplies.

PITTSBURGH - Alcoa Inc., the world's third-largest aluminum producer, ushered in the second-quarter earnings season by posting a 24 percent earnings decline as rising production costs eroded profits, but the results still exceeded analysts' expectations.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week aimed at protecting future homebuyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a housing crisis that has propelled foreclosures to record highs.

TOYAKO, Japan - A joint gathering of major developed and developing nations on Wednesday agreed that climate change was "one of the great global challenges of our time" and pledged to back a United Nations effort to conclude new climate pact by 2009. The major economies said they supported longterm and midterm goals for greenhouse-gas reductions, but endorsed no targets.

LOS ANGELES - The labor drama gripping Hollywood is now entering its final act after one actors group said its members ratified a new deal and the other prepared to turn down the major studios' final offer.

NEW YORK - Wall Street finished sharply higher Tuesday as oil prices dropped for the second straight day and investors were encouraged by the possibility of more help for the ailing financial system. The Dow Jones industrials gained more than 150 points, and all the major indexes were up more than 1 percent.

ST. LOUIS - Anheuser-Busch claims that Belgian brewer InBev's unsolicited takeover bid isn't just bad for the bottom line, but is an "illegal scheme" that threatens to defraud Anheuser-Busch shareholders if a federal judge doesn't step in.

WASHINGTON - A measurement of pending home sales fell to the third-lowest reading on record in May as the housing market's recovery continued to prove elusive.

FRANKFURT, Germany - Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Tuesday it will cut 16,750 jobs, or 4.2 percent of its global work force, to streamline operations and slice nearly $2 billion in costs in the face of a slowing economy.

WASHINGTON - The three main credit-rating agencies failed to rein in conflicts of interest in giving high ratings to risky securities backed by subprime mortgages that later collapsed, federal regulators said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama says John McCain's plan to balance the budget doesn't add up. Easy for him to say: It's not a goal he's even trying to reach.

NEW YORK - Shares of mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bounced back Tuesday, a day after plunging over worries the pair might need billions of dollars in new capital if a new accounting rule is put into effect.

MILWAUKEE - For the first time in more than 20 years, the organizers of the Harbor Fest musical festival in Racine, Wis., were forced to cancel their seminal summertime event on the shores of Lake Michigan.

HOUSTON - ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said Tuesday its global production fell as expected in the second quarter because of planned maintenance, but it benefited from higher oil and natural gas prices.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Sultan al-Mazeen recently stopped at a gas station to fill up his SUV, paying 45 cents a gallon — about one-tenth what Americans pay these days.

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's opposition party will end its boycott of the legislature over resumed U.S. beef imports, an official said Tuesday.

BEIJING - General Motors and Ford reported first-half sales grew strongly in China's booming auto market Tuesday, a rare bright spot for global automakers.

WASHINGTON - U.S. exports to Iran — including brassieres, bull semen, cosmetics and possibly even weapons — grew more than tenfold during President Bush's years in office even as he accused Iran of nuclear ambitions and helping terrorists. America sent more cigarettes to Iran, at least $158 million worth under Bush, than any other products.

LONDON - European and most Asian stock markets fell Tuesday, hit with renewed fears over U.S. credit problems and their impact on financial companies after weakness in the previous session on Wall Street.