PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Aug 24

Aug 24 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Economists have long predicted that China would eventually surpass the U.S. in influence. That change may be arriving sooner than expected.

* Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is calling on General Motors [GM.UL] to choose a winner for Opel, the automaker's troubled German unit, as early as this week, saying tens of thousands of jobs depended on the decision.

* A new Web site called Fanbase, backed with $5 million from venture capitalists, is creating an almanac of every professional and college athlete and team, no matter how obscure.

* Opposition is mounting in Europe to a proposed class-action settlement giving Google Inc (GOOG.O) the right to commercialize digital copies of millions of books.