World stock markets fell sharply Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it could start scaling back its huge economic stimulus program later this year and a survey showed a slowdown in manufacturing in China.

Verizon Communications Inc. is looking at a move into Canada's cellular telephone business, one of several possible new entrants whose arrival would salvage the federal government's ambitions for a fourth wireless player across the country.

Imperial Oil Ltd. will close its 95-year-old Dartmouth, N.S., oil refinery and eliminate most of the 400 high-paying jobs it provides in the Halifax area - victims of too much refining capacity in the Atlantic basin and the high cost of imported crude.

TORONTO - Canada's growth outlook appears to be stronger than previously thought, thanks to an improving trade picture and the strength of corporate balance sheets, economists at the Royal Bank of Canada said Wednesday.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The UNESCO world heritage committee is recommending that a monitoring mission be sent to Gros Morne National Park to assess fracking risks, saying it's seriously concerned about plans for potential oil exploration near the site.