CHINA

Oil prices rallied 3 percent on Wednesday as U.S. crude oil inventories fell for the first time in seven weeks and the dollar weakened further, fueling investor appetite for riskier assets.

Brent and U.S. crude oil futures rallied more than $2 on Wednesday, with Brent over $123 a barrel, helped by a weekly draw in U.S. crude inventories that confounded expectations for a stock build, and by a weaker dollar.

China has spent tens of billions of dollars buying into energy resources from Africa to Latin America to slake the unquenched thirst for fuel from its growing industry and burgeoning cities.

Yemen has been struck by fresh new violence, one day after a summit in the United Nations failed to reach a consensus on the nation’s crisis.

Cyberspace is likely to be a key battleground for states in the 21st century but recruiting those with the technical skills to fight there and retaining their loyalty will be a tough task.

Gold hit record highs above $1,500 an ounce on Wednesday as fears over the U.S. economic outlook boosted its appeal as a haven from risk, while Asian buyers sought protection from rising inflation.

Gold prices soared above $1,500 an ounce on Wednesday, setting a new all-time record, even as the precious metal sustained a superb run banking on its value as the preferred safe haven investment in uncertain times.

Foreign companies bidding for public projects in China, valued at $1 trillion a year, face a sharply tilted playing field, a European Union business lobby said Wednesday, citing favoritism and corruption as influencing the award of contracts.

Gold shot up above $1,500 an ounce on Wednesday for the first time ever as worries over the health of the global economy boosted the metal as a safe haven.

U.S. stock markets gained for the first time in four days on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected report on new home starts and encouraging quarterly results from Johnson & Johnson helped lift the markets.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: CDC Corp., Nanometrics, Intel, Yahoo!, and Hologic. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Cree, TriMas, Ceradyne, ViroPharma, and Veeco Instruments.

Japan's exports fell in March at a faster pace than economists expected, in a sign that shipments will continue to weaken and hurt economic growth after last month's earthquake and tsunami sparked a nuclear crisis and disrupted supply chains for many manufacturers.

Luxury car makers that have learned the ropes in the familiar markets of Europe and the United States are having to adapt to new ways in China, but with the market expected to boom, they have little choice but to get on board.

Japan's exports fell in March from a year earlier at a faster pace than economists expected, in a sign that shipments will continue to weaken and hurt economic growth after last month's earthquake and tsunami sparked a nuclear crisis and disrupted supply chains for many manufacturers.

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, clawing back some of the previous day's losses as positive earnings news helped buoy shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.16 points, or 0.53%, to finish near the day's highs at 12266.75. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 7.48 points, or 0.57%, to 1312.62 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 9.59 points, or 0.35%, to 2744.97. The gains came one day after the Dow fell 140 points on credit-ratings firm Standard & Poor's decision to lower its ...

Canadian e-reading service provider Kobo Inc said on Tuesday it closed a C$50 million ($53 million) investment round aimed at speeding up expansion and new product development.

Brent crude oil futures fell below $120 on Tuesday for the first time in two weeks, pressured by concern over the economic outlook and the risk that high prices could erode demand.

Donald Trump’s promise to make foreign countries pay up has become a cornerstone of his unofficial 2012 presidential campaign.

U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Tuesday as investors searched the latest raft of corporate profits for a reason to rebound from Monday's selloff.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK on Monday - reacting to a 2 year warning on the nation's pristine credit rating - said Democrats and Republicans needed to reach a deal on cutting the nation's long-term deficits ahead of the November 2012 election, cautioning against waiting for the perfect political moment to tackle the problem.

Donald Trump's PR campaign has been built around questioning the validity of President Obama's birth certificate. But recently Trump has also broached on foreign policy, adding another angle to his PR campaign.