CHINA

A slowdown in exports, a slump in the earnings of domestic companies and surging food prices cast downward pressure on the world's second-biggest economy in August as the China's National Bureau of Statistics reported Sunday that the Consumer Price Index rose 2 percent.

China's factories ran at their slowest rate for 39 months in August while a double-digit rise in fixed asset investment showed that infrastructure spending remained key to economic growth.

Asian stock markets ended with gains last week after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced plan to reduce borrowing costs of struggling euro zone countries’ and news that Chinese regulators had approved another batch of infrastructure projects, which should stabilize and restore growth in the world's second largest economy. Market participants’ are likely to focus on Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest rate decision on September 13th.

The Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world, sometimes called the "golden watercourse," mysteriously blushed for the first time on Sept. 6. Residents in the surrounding area near the city of Chongqing, where the Yangtze connects to the Jialin River, literally stopped in their tracks when they noticed their once golden river had turned a shocking shade of red. For photos of the once golden river, check out the pictures in the photo gallery.

The death toll in a series of earthquakes that struck southwest China's Yunnan and Guizhou provinces Friday has mounted to 80. Over 730 people suffered injuries.

Asian stock markets posted their first weekly gains in three weeks as the European Central Bank's (ECB) announcement about its widely anticipated bond-buying program, and Chinese stimulus measures, triggered a rally on Friday.

A stretch of China's Yangtze River has mysteriously turned red around the city of Chongqing. Officials are investigating the river's transformation, as nobody is quite sure what caused it. The river began turning the color of a nice marinara sauce on Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama's speech Thursday night earned mixed reviews, but his reminder of the campaign promises he ran on in 2008 made members of the audience emotional. Obama reminded the audience that all Americans, Democrat and Republican, have problems that can be solved.

The week is chock-full with data releases, but the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Sept. 12-13 will carry the most weight.

Honduras is implementing a bold new plan to establish independent "charter cities" that will operate under separate laws in a bid to draw more foreign investment. Proponents says the plan will create thousands of jobs and spur economic development in the rest of Honduras, while critics say they will only open the door for corporations and other governments to exploit cheap labor and neoliberal tax laws.

Official aid from the South to the North often goes through the Red Cross as a matter of formality and convenience.

After breaking from decades of military rule, Myanmar's parliament ratified legislation promoting foreign investment on Friday, opening the southeast Asian country to investment from companies like MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA), the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE).

It's been three years since the Great Recession technically ended, and still, unemployed Americans are struggling to find work.

China's Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie caused a stir, perhaps inadvertently, while on a visit to India by handing a cash gift of Rs. 100,000 ($1,800) to two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots who flew him from Mumbai to New Delhi Monday, media reports said Thursday.

I have never been certain if tipping was simply a 'courtesy' or the 'law.'

It's a sign of good times in the Eastern Hemisphere: beer is becoming more and more popular in Asia.

At least 43 people were killed and over 150 injured when a 5.7-magnitude earthquake rocked southwest China's Yunnan and Guizhou provinces Friday, Chinese media reported.

The European markets continued the upward rally Friday, a day after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the widely anticipated bond-buying program aimed at lowering the struggling euro zone countries' borrowing costs.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Friday ahead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' nonfarm payrolls and unemployment reports.

Asian stock markets rallied Friday after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the widely anticipated bond-buying program aimed at lowering the struggling euro zone countries' borrowing costs.

Air India took delivery of its first Boeing 787 commercial widebody airplane on Thursday at Boeing Co's final assembly plant after a months-long dispute between airline and manufacturer over compensation for a four-year production delay.