BEIJING (Reuters) - China's annual economic growth could fall below 7 percent in the second quarter if weak activity persists in June, an influential government adviser was quoted on Wednesday as saying.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc took the wraps off its own mobile mapping service and improved the search capabilities of its Siri voice assistant, taking the fight into Google Inc's domain.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase's failure to timely disclose a major change in how it measured risk could become the centerpiece for an enforcement action by U.S. securities regulators as they probe the bank in connection with its multibillion dollar trading loss.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite a popular belief that spending on lobbyists and political gifts yield fat dividends for business, a study has found just the opposite - that in general higher corporate spending in Washington is linked to worse market performance.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hiring prospects have improved slightly in the United States and other major economies but companies are only adding workers when they have to, according to a survey by Manpower Group , the global employment services giant.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates' market regulator unveiled a major overhaul of stock ownership rules in the Gulf Arab state, in a bid to force more disclosure in takeover deals and boost transparency.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will take swift counter-measures that could include impounding European aircraft if the European Union punishes Chinese airlines for non-compliance with a scheme to curb carbon emissions, the China Air Transport Association said on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.6-0.7 percent.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday it had rehired veteran banker Mark Schwartz in the role of chairman of its Asia Pacific unit, based in Beijing, becoming the first global investment bank to place its sole regional chairman in China's capital.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. bank J.P. Morgan has hired an ex-Goldman Sachs energy trader to expand its customer flow business in Asia amid tightening regulation over proprietary trading, a source close to the matter said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp on Tuesday will debut the first products in a line of U.S.-made mugs and other merchandise that will be sold in its roughly 7,000 U.S. cafes to support domestic manufacturing and raise money for its Create Jobs for USA fund.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks will get a lift on Monday after euro zone finance ministers agreed to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to help its battered banks.