CHINA

Stocks edged higher in early trading on Thursday as concerns about rising yields in some euro zone countries eased and on bets corporate America will beat a lowered bar of earnings expectations.

Tehran's top negotiator Saeed Jalili told the group of six world powers gathered in Istanbul for talks this Saturday that Iran is ready to hold successful and progressive talks on cooperation.

U.S. trade deficit narrowed in February as exports rose slightly to a record while imports fell.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in February as exports hit a record high, imports from China and other key suppliers declined and oil import volume fell to the lowest in 15 years, a government report showed on Thursday.

The Chinese government has shut down 42 websites and arrested 1065 suspects for fabricating or disseminating online rumors, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in February as exports hit a record high, imports from China and other key suppliers declined and oil import volume fell to the lowest in 15 years, a government report showed on Thursday.

India and China are headed for an absolute catastrophe of death and disease because of likely massive jump in asbestos-related diseases in the coming decades, says a report written by Pulitzer winning journalist Gary Cohn.

Iran has stopped oil exports to Germany and declared a ban on imports from 100 European Union companies in retaliation to the EU embargo on Iranian crude imports which will come into force in July, the Press TV has reported.

The US reclaimed the top position as the biggest investor in clean energy last year, with clean energy finance and investment witnessing a growth $48 billion, a 42 percent increase over 2010, according to a global rank list published in a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Asian stock markets gained Thursday, following a rebound on Wall Street overnight on easing eurozone worries and hopes for a better-than-expected US earnings season after solid start from Alcoa.

The World Bank cut its forecast for China's 2012 economic growth to 8.2 percent on Thursday and said a rebound might not begin before the third quarter of the year as slack foreign demand and a government-induced real estate slowdown restrain a recovery.

China's growth rate will decrease in 2012, according to the forecast by World Bank following the deterioration in the domestic property market and decrease in export demand globally.

Syria was due to observe a ceasefire from dawn Thursday, but its fierce attacks on opposition neighborhoods in the run up to the U.N. deadline fuelled widespread doubts it would comply.

North Korea is poised to launch its first satellite into orbit; the U.S. says it is a missile test in disguise. And tensions in northeast Asia are high as the North, an impoverished but nuclear-armed nation, engages in saber-rattling ahead of the launch.

The University of Southern California said two international graduate students were shot and killed in a possible carjacking early Wednesday morning. The two students, a young woman and a young man from China, were identified as Ying Wu and Ming Qu, said the university.

A Chinese cruise ship called the Scent of Princess Coconut has completed a trial voyage to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, state media said on Tuesday.

Chinese real estate is facing such deep woes largely because government policies have encouraged market domination by speculators -- pushing prices out of reach for everyone except the rich.

Apple hasn't officially announced the release date for its new revamped Macbook Pro and iMac family, but the latest rumors suggest a redesigned 15-inch MacBook will launch as early as May, with the new revamped iMac following in June.

A naval standoff in the South China Sea is pitting the Philippines against China, and is highlighting how a growing Chinese military presence in the region may create tension in a resource-rich area.

Shares of Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) surged more than 8 percent Wednesday after the U.S. aluminum giant kicked off the Wall Street earnings season with an unexpected profit as it cut costs and improved productivity.

The Commander of North Korea's Satellite Integrated Control Center said on Wednesday that a satellite had already been successfully installed into the rocket and that the Unha-3 was now being fueled.