Asian and European foreign ministers held talks in Vietnam on Monday that were quickly overshadowed by North Korea's nuclear test and outrage at the trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected a Western proposal for it to freeze its nuclear work in return for no new sanctions and ruled out any talks with major powers on the issue.
President Barack Obama said on Monday that nuclear and missile tests conducted by North Korea were a grave concern to all nations and a legal violation that warranted action by the international community.
Top emitters of greenhouse gases tried on Monday to break a deadlock about sharing the burden of cuts in a U.N. climate pact, and Washington rejected charges that it was lagging Europe in fighting global warming.
World leaders condemned North Korea for carrying out nuclear and missile tests and U.S. President Barack Obama said Pyongyang's actions were a reckless challenge warranting action from the international community.
Chinese power giant Huaneng will launch its second pilot carbon capture project in Shanghai at the end of this year, but high costs are holding back further progress, an executive with the company said.
Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said there was no sign of a problem with U.S. inflation at the moment, and revealed that Chinese officials had quizzed him on the Fed's purchases of U.S. government bonds.
A key measure of German business sentiment rose in May and Japan raised its economic outlook for the first time in three years in further signs the worst of the global recession may be over, with stability seen later in 2009.
China's official foreign exchange manager is still buying record amounts of U.S. government bonds, in spite of Beijing's increasingly vocal fear of a dollar collapse, the Financial Times reported.
South Korean stocks and the won dipped after North Korea said it had conducted a nuclear test on Monday, but the reaction was limited as investors had expected such a move from the North and have become long accustomed its provocations.
U.S. President Barack Obama is walking a tightrope on climate change -- and so far appears to be achieving a delicate balance.
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Fiat had improved its bid for General Motors' Opel unit and said other bidders may be willing to sweeten their offers as well.
Global electricity use this year will fall for the first time since 1945 when records began, a signaling the seriousness of the economic recession, according to the International Energy Agency.
Stocks fell for a fourth day on Friday on persistent worries about the U.S. budget deficit, with U.S. Treasuries and the dollar losing ground.
Stocks fell for a fourth day on Friday on persistent worries about the U.S. budget deficit, with U.S. Treasuries and the dollar losing ground.
A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit China in coming days to discuss international efforts aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
China will ban smoking in all hospitals and medical facilities from 2011, the Health Ministry said on Friday, as the world's most populous nation struggles to get its people to kick one of their favorite habits.
Stocks rose on Friday as investors snapped up shares of multinational companies, including McDonald's Corp, on hopes that a weaker dollar would underpin profitability.
European foreign ministers will press Myanmar at an Asia-Europe meeting next week to end the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but analysts expect only lukewarm backing from their Asian counterparts.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was sworn in on Friday for a second five-year term with expectations his strengthened left-of-center coalition could both reform a slowing economy and help millions of poor.
Canada's Sino-Forest Corp said on Friday it increased its bought-deal offering size by C$38.5 million to $330 million by selling more shares to the underwriters.
Solar power company Yingli Green Energy reported an unexpected quarterly loss as sales volumes and prices fell, and it cut its forecast for full-year sales.
