CHINA

Japan's Nikkei stock average slid more than 2 percent on Monday as weak sentiment following Standard & Poor's downgrade of the United States' credit rating was exacerbated by futures selling after Asian markets tumbled.

U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy has signed up to headline a made-for-television golf odyssey through China this year to showcase the sport in the country and the nation's fast-growing cities to the rest of the world.

The European Central Bank stepped into bond markets on Monday, backing up a pledge to support Spain and Italy with the aim of averting financial meltdown in the euro zone, while the G7 and G20 offered soothing words to investors shaken by a historic downgrade of the U.S. debt rating.

Chinese editorials flaying Washington for fiscal recklessness over its debt dramatics and downgrade mask a growing unease in Beijing: a fear that China's own economic policies are shifting too slowly.

Japan on Monday signaled it was ready to continue intervening in the currency market in the wake of a G7 agreement to counter excessive exchange-rate moves, but Moody's Investors Service warned that Tokyo's efforts to weaken the yen were ineffective and negative for its sovereign ratings.

Baidu Inc, China's largest search engine, said on Monday it has signed an agreement with BMW to provide its search services in some of the German automaker's vehicles.

The United States and Europe must summon the political courage to defuse their debt woes or global economic recovery will be threatened, Chinese official media said on Monday, reflecting the pressures on Beijing with its big stash of dollar assets.

Hollywood studios are set to break into China's massive Internet market as domestic video sites scramble to screen U.S. movies and dramas on their digital platforms, a move which could also curb rampant piracy.

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Monday that market trust in the dollar and U.S. Treasuries has not wavered in the wake of a U.S. credit downgrade, indicating Tokyo's readiness to maintain its massive holdings of U.S. government bonds.

The United States and Europe must summon the political courage to overcome their debt crises or global economic recovery will be threatened, Chinese official media said on Monday, warning Washington against letting the dollar weaken.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, an expert on the Great Depression, once promised that the central bank would never repeat its 1937 mistake of rushing to tighten monetary policy too soon and prolonging an economic slump.

Corrupt practices, nepotism, imagery and an inadequate education system responsible for lack of scientific spirit

The United States lost its top-tier AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday, a move that will affect the country's borrowing costs and investor opinion of U.S. assets. Here is a Q+A on what the downgrade means for investors, consumers and to the country.

Certain shark species have the ability to create an optical illusion that renders them invisible to both preys and predators, a new study says.

Chinese economists said the U.S. credit rating downgrade by Standard & Poor's poses great risk to financial markets and expect it to prompt China, the world's biggest holder of U.S. Treasuries, to accelerate the diversification of its holdings.

Chinese authorities evacuated more than 200,000 residents from eastern Zhejiang province and cancelled more than 200 flights, as the region braced itself for a typhoon that could be the worst in the area in years.

China bluntly criticised the United States on Saturday one day after the superpower's credit rating was downgraded, saying the "good old days" of borrowing were over.

China holds a large amount of U.S. debt. Xinhua, the official press agency of China, issued a commentary on Aug. 6 titled After historic downgrade, U.S. must address its chronic debt problems. The commentary stated that the days when debt-ridden Uncle Sam could leisurely squander unlimited overseas borrowing seemed to be numbered because S&P slashed the country's AAA rating for the first time.

Thirteen items belonging to the late kung fu legend Bruce Lee, including a hand-written letter and a fur-lined coat, are set to go under the hammer in Hong Kong at the weekend.

Hewlett Packard reduced the price of its TouchPad tablet computer again, highlighting the uphill battle manufacturers will need to overcome as they go head-to-head against the dominant Apple iPad line of tablets.

The United States lost its top-tier AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, drawing a blast of criticism on Saturday from its biggest creditor China and deepening investors' alarm over the euro zone's debt crisis.