CHINA

Chen Guangcheng is the latest -- but almost certainly won't be the last -- Chinese dissident to stir up international uproar over civil-rights violations in China. But seeing the many-branched tree of civil and human-rights activists from which he descended offers an overview of the current state of China's political dissent.

A senior US diplomat arrived in Beijing Sunday ahead of schedule as the reports of US protection to escaped Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng triggered tension between both the countries.

When Hillary Clinton made her first trip abroad as secretary of state, she baldly said the United States could not let human rights disputes get in the way of working with China on global challenges.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are not planning to postpone their visit to China next week because of the reported American protection of a Chinese civil-rights activist who recently escaped house arrest, a State Department official said Saturday.

A female scooter rider in China killed a man on April 19 by squeezing his testicle during an argument over parking space. The Chinese woman squeezed the local store owner's testicles until he collapsed during the fight over parking space.

Samsung is not alone to sizzle up the market with its next-gen smartphone offering. There are other Android manufacturers in the showground who are all set to splash the smartphone arena with their latest flagship devices to challenge Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S3.

An analysis of the latest satellite images of North Korea's nuclear test site appears to show that frantic activities involving a chain of mining carts are underway, amid rumors that the reclusive Asian nation may be planning to conduct a nuclear test, following its failed rocket launch April 13.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank Corp reported a weak growth in the first quarter due to slowdown in the economy.

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng made his way to the U.S. embassy in Beijing from his home in Linyi village in Shandong province after his escape from house arrest on Sunday, fellow dissident Hu Jia told BBC News.

China's economic relationships with Eastern Europe are deepening. Although the Asian power's trade with the former Communist bloc often goes unnoticed in the Americas, it has increased significantly in recent years.

India and Russia have chosen to boycott Zimbabwe's 53rd International Trade Fair this year to express their deep discontent with the country's new policies to nationalize and seize control over foreign companies.

Investors might be in for another week of gloomy economic news. The U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, Institute for Supply Management data, and the European Central Bank's monthly policy meeting are key items on the economic calendar from April 30 to May 4.

Gentlemen, the next time someone reaches for your junk you better run. Last week a Chinese woman reportedly killed a man by squeezing his testicles while in a fight over a parking space.

Markets shrugged off news of weaker-than-expected first-quarter growth in U.S. gross domestic product and responded positively, if modestly, to news of stronger-than-expected consumer confidence.

On the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, Ukraine launched the construction of a new and improved shelter to permanently secure the traumatized plant. The project, which is expected to cost contributors around 1.5 billion euros, is intended to repair the damage from an explosion that occurred during testing at the power plant in the early hours of April 26, 1986.

China's central bank expanded the yuan's reference rate against the dollar to another record high on Friday, in a nod to calls from the U.S. to loosen growth restrictions on the currency's value.

A headscratcher of a report on Chinese industrial profits intensified speculation about just what exactly central bankers in that country will come up with next as the note, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), revealed data that both supporters and detractors of monetary easing in the world's second-largest economy will find justifies their rationale.

Some top Israeli officials have repeatedly compared the current regime in Tehran to Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler?s program of exterminating the Jews.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), the second-largest U.S. carmaker, said Friday profit fell 20.5 percent, missing analysts' predictions, on lower European sales, plunging South American profit and a drop in Ford Credit profit.

Shares of Hon Hai Precision Industries (TPE: 2317), more widely known as Foxconn and as the main contractor for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, plunged Friday.

India successfully launched a microwave Radar Imaging Satellite, Risat-1, into orbit from the spaceport at Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.