CHINA

Republican lawmakers are playing with fire by contemplating even a brief debt default as a means to force deeper government spending cuts, an adviser to China's central bank said on Wednesday.

McDonald's Corp reported a lower-than-expected rise in May sales at established restaurants as high gasoline prices crimped U.S. spending and Europe's economic woes weakened results from Germany.

A draconian order that requires all .kz domain names, such as google.kz, to operate on physical servers within the borders of Kazakhstan was issued last month by the country's Ministry of Communications and Information.

The Chinese military has confirmed that it is constructing its first aircraft carrier.

McDonald's Corp reported a lower-than-expected sales increase at established stores in the United States in May as high gas prices and unemployment crimped its business.

Tencent Holdings, China's most valuable Internet company, said on Wednesday it has invested into a fund that will support early-stage Chinese Internet firms.

At least 24 were killed as heavy rains wreaked havoc in southern and eastern China, forcing more than 100,000 people to evacuate.

Allowing a brief U.S. debt default to force government spending cuts is a horrible idea that could destabilize the world economy and sour already tense relations with big creditors like China, government officials and investors said on Wednesday.

Gap Inc is turning to women's designer Diane von Furstenberg to help sell baby and kids clothes as it tries to reverse fashion missteps that have eroded sales.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said that India is not supporting French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde's candidacy for the International Monetary Fund's top job.

Ford Motor Co is aiming to expand its presence in the fast-growing auto markets of India and China with an eye toward increasing the number of vehicles it sells per year by 50 percent by the middle of the decade.

The economy hasn’t looked so good recently. The housing market is double dipping, corporate profits are starting to disappointment, and last Friday’s jobs report was beyond horrible.

iRobot Corp, whose products clean homes and disarm bombs in war zones, expects to see better growth overseas this year as the United States, its domestic market, keeps a tight rein on spending.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Speech At the International Monetary Conference, Atlanta, Ga. on June 7, 2011

Ford Motor Co said it planned to cut its net debt by 15.7 percent to around $14 billion by the end of June, continuing to pay off the loans that helped make it the one major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy in recent years.

Muddy Waters is in the business of taking down Western-traded Chinese companies by publishing scathing criticisms of them.

Ford Motor Co's global auto sales will grow about 50 percent to around 8 million vehicles a year by the middle of the decade, Ford executives said on Tuesday.

Politicians should not play chicken with the country's credit rating, but need to focus urgently on finding ways to reduce the rising budget deficit, according to the head of General Motors Co.

Rains are more than welcome, but the Middle Kingdom is paying the toll for precipitation in human capital.

The shaky U.S. economy, facing stubbornly high unemployment and volatile oil prices, is one of the main worries facing General Motors Co, according to the head of the largest U.S. automaker.

Low-flying NATO jets have reportedly conducted a rare daytime bombing campaign on Tripoli, Libya, setting off huge explosions and also striking the military barracks and compound of Moammar Gaddafi.