CHINA

Rich nations could tap strategic oil reserves if needed to ward off the risk that Middle East political unrest triggers an inflationary price spiral, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.

The United States and other major economies can tap strategic oil reserves if need be to keep soaring oil prices from derailing a global recovery, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday.

U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday as stronger than expected initial jobless claims data and an easing of oil prices after reports of a possible peace deal in Libya buoyed sentiment.

Growth in the service sectors in the United States and Europe hit its highest in five years in February, suggesting economic growth is accelerating though inflationary pressures are building.

The following are highlights from testimony by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on turbulence in the global economy and implications for the United States.

Rich nations could tap strategic oil reserves if needed to ward off the risk that Middle East political unrest triggers an inflationary price spiral, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.

A new World Bank strategy for Africa unveiled on Wednesday focuses on creating jobs and making economies more competitive, while also tackling problems of climate change, disease, food shortages and conflict.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has reportedly accepted an offer of mediation from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez while an opposition group has rejected it, according to a report.

RBC Capital Markets estimates that tablets may ultimately cannibalize around 15 percent of the total PC market through 2014, which while material, doesn't deter the PC markets from seeing sustained growth over the next 5-years.

Japan is set to launch at the weekend its next-generation high-speed train, featuring sleek green and silver cars with pink stripes and named for the peregrine falcon.

If Yahoo decides to divest its Japanese assets, then it might look to monetize its assets in china as well, where it owns about 40 percent of the Internet company Alibaba Group.

China will further expand its yuan settlement program for exporters across the country, reported the People’s Daily, citing a statement from the central bank. At the end of last year, 67,000 exporters already participated in the program.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a higher opening on Thursday ahead of economic data including key weekly jobless claims and non-farm productivity.

Most Asian stock markets ended higher on Thursday, helped by upbeat U.S. jobs data and an easing of oil prices after reports of a possible peace deal in Libya.

In wake of the recent attention and international developments on rare earth minerals, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has completed its first review of China's rare-earth industry.

Australia's changes to foreign investment rules in 2009 were aimed at limiting Chinese investments in local mining companies, according to confidential U.S. embassy cables.

China has worked on tougher regulations for rare earth minerals by setting stricter emission limits on miners, which 60% of the local industry would struggle to meet.

More than half of China's mid-sized companies will seek to raise capital within the next two years, highlighting an urgent need for funding to fuel rapid expansion, a survey showed on Thursday.

The Chinese yuan could potentially become a world reserve currency as the country gears up to boost its global clout, deputy central bank governor Yi Gang said in remarks published on Thursday.

If you’ve followed the auto industry for a while you’ll know that automakers are always sharing technology and projects in cross-collaborations that would normally make any paranoid hard-nosed capitalist weep in fear. But the latest firms to receive official blessing for a joint project might not be the strange bedfellows they appear at first.

China wants to elbow U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) out of a $15 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday in an example of the new competition Beijing presents to U.S. interests.