MADRID/ATHENS (Reuters) - Spain lurched closer to becoming the largest euro zone country yet to be shut out of credit markets when it had to pay a euro era record price to sell short-term debt on Tuesday.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rio Tinto will spend $3.7 billion to increase iron ore output in Australia by a further 25 percent to 353 million tonnes a year tonnes by 2015, shrugging off forecasts of waning demand and a looming global supply glut.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon insisted his bank was upfront with investors about its recent multibillion-dollar trading loss, as regulators examine whether JPMorgan hid a dramatic rise in risk-taking.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp announced sweeping changes in Australia on Wednesday, including job cuts and shrinking the number of its divisions from 19 to five, the latest local media group to restructure in the face of declining ad sales.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With economic storm clouds gathering abroad and signs the U.S. recovery is flagging, the Federal Reserve may feel compelled on Wednesday to launch a new round of monetary stimulus.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Wednesday and the euro clung to most of the previous session's gains as investors bet that Europe's worsening debt crisis and faltering global growth will prompt major central banks to launch a new round of monetary stimulus.

SINGAPORE/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Asia's top companies are less upbeat on their business outlook than in the first quarter, with mounting concern over the euro zone crisis and a slowdown in China's growth, according to the latest Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asia Business Sentiment Survey, published on Wednesday.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp made a $2 billion takeover offer for Australia's Consolidated Media Holdings on Wednesday, boosting top shareholder and billionaire James Packer's warchest as he abandons media in favor of casinos.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Apple Inc will try to salvage a high-profile lawsuit against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit on Wednesday at a crucial hearing in the smartphone patent wars between the two tech companies.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Lenders to India's Hotel Leela, a 5-star chain that is more than two months behind in payments on $700 million of debt, are likely to bite the bullet and amend the loan terms rather than declare it in default, say bankers involved in the talks.