Apple is investigating an accident in which a Chinese woman was killed by an electric shock when answering a call on her iPhone 5 while it was charging, the US technology company said.

European aviation stocks declined, following a drop among Asian carriers, on concern an outbreak of the bird-flu virus in China will clip travel and hurt demand already unsettled by rising military tensions with North Korea.

At least one airline had questioned the safety of night-time landings at the relatively new airport in north-east China where a passenger jet crashed and burned while trying to land at night on a fog-shrouded runway, killing 42 people and injuring 54, it was revealed today.

Aviation officials at a relatively new airport in north-east China searched through debris today for clues to why a passenger jet crashed and burned while trying to land on a fog-shrouded runway, killing 42 people and injuring 54 others.

A Chinese official said a flight crew prevented a planned terrorist act aboard a Chinese jetliner last week.

China ordered 150 Airbus single-aisle A320 airliners today, more than twice as many plane orders than the company’s US-based rival Boeing received from China last month.

Indian Airlines has agreed to buy 43 Airbus jets for $2.2bn (€1.75bn), Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today.

China signed today contracts to buy five Airbus A380 super-jumbo jets and other French goods in deals worth more than €3bn as Jean-Pierre Raffarin began an official visit to China.

A Chinese airline will sign an order for five Airbus A380 superjumbos on Friday.

European plane maker Airbus Industrie has signed a deal with China Southern Airlines to supply the airline with 21 planes at a cost of around $1.17bn (0.96bn).

China Southern Airlines said today it plans to buy 21 aircraft from the France-based Airbus and six from a Brazilian manufacturer.

THE World Health Organisation lifted its travel warning against Beijing yesterday, giving a clean bill of health to the capital of the nation where the SARS outbreak began.

Share prices closed the morning lower tracking the overnight falls on Wall Street amid caution in the lead up to the first anniversary of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks next week, dealers said.

Shares prices closed lower in cautious trade, with Wall Street's overnight performance seen as a mere short-term rebound rather than indicating a genuine improvement in sentiment, dealers said.

Share prices closed the morning lower, pressured by Wall Street's overnight weakness following weak US retail sales data, dealers said.