CHINA

President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for the Syrian rebels, U.S. sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters.

Luo Yutong and Qin Kai helped lead China to yet another top finish.

Images of the People's Liberation Army of China, from past to present.

Four badminton teams were thrown out of the 2012 London Olympics on Wednesday after attempting to purposely lose preliminary matches to get an easier track to a medal.

Liuyang Jiao of China set an Olympic record in the 200 meter butterfly en route to her gold medal victory on Wednesday.

Euro zone Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) numbers continued their 11-month straight contraction, with manufacturing in Italy, Spain and Greece continuing their alarming downward trends.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Africa for ten days, meeting with leaders over concerns about terrorism and security, and China's growing economic hold over the continent.

Chinese officials and nationals are infuriated over doping allegations involving the 16-year old swimming superstar Ye Shiwen. She was later cleared of using banned substances by the World Doping Agency.

Controversy has plagued Olympic Badminton team members from China, South Korea and Indonesia. Eight female badminton players were disqualified from the Games on Wednesday for reportedly trying to lose matches the day before, the Badminton World Federation announced after a disciplinary hearing.

NBC is the only American broadcast distributor for the London 2012 Olympics, and despite its efforts to bring high-production value to its Olympic coverage, it continues to receive significant criticism for its Olympics coverage. Now, any time NBC slips up, viewers go to Twitter and note their criticisms with the hashtag, #NBCFail. In covering the American women's victory in gymnastics on Tuesday, one NBC writer compared winning gold to getting a tweet from Justin Bieber. O. M. G.

The U.S. women's gymnastics team made history on Tuesday at the 2012 Olympics.

If the Chinese bring a flag to plant when they land on the moon in 2013, they won't be the first: American astronauts on the Apollo missions have planted six flags already. And according to recent scientific observations, five of them are still standing upright.

Rail transport was paralyzed, hospitals had to rush to use back-up generators, roads became clogged with traffic jams, and water supplies were disrupted, among a multitude of other breakdowns.

Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the outcome of the two major central bank meetings.

The World Badminton Federation (WBF) charged eight female players Wednesday of 'throwing' their doubles match in London Olympics to get an easier draw in the next round. Four pairs of Badminton players allegedly conceded defeat by deliberately spraying the shots and faulting the serves.

U.S. stock index futures point to a higher opening Wednesday as investors were hopeful that stimulus measures will be announced in the Federal Reserve?s meeting to declare policy action.

China's manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in July compared to that in the previous month, increasing concerns over a slowdown in the economic growth of the country.

Most of the Asian markets fell Wednesday amid increasing concerns over the slowdown in economic growth in China as the country's manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in July compared to that in the previous month.

Asian shares fell Wednesday after four days of gains, as expectations of stimulus action this week by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank fade, and following signs of deepening Asian economic stress.

"I think he has taken the first step," Adam Penenberg said. "He admitted what he did, unlike Stephen Glass."

Beijing may soon receive its first official visit from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, if recent high-level visits are any indication.