IBT Staff Reporter

An annual GDP growth rate of 8 percent would be an economic miracle in most of the world. In China, it has the government looking for ways to help the economy grow more -- but not by spending indiscriminately for stimulus plans.

Spain may say on Wednesday how it will plug a hole of at least 8 billion euros ($10.21 billion) at Bankia, part of an effort to clean up a banking sector laden with bad debts and stop the country sinking further into the euro zone debt crisis.

China will step up policy fine-tuning to support the economy, which faces increasing downward pressures, Premier Wen Jiabao said at a regular cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The U.S. sale of advanced F-16s fighter jets to Taiwan is looking more likely than ever of being formalized into law, after being approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.

As U.S. entertainment companies look for new opportunities in light of a stagnant home market, new partnerships with China are emerging, but the process of linking media worlds between the two countries is also a two-way street.

Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta threw away his duties by divulging bank secrets to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, a U.S. prosecutor said at the start of Gupta's insider-trading trial on Monday.

A Japanese rocket has successfully delivered a South Korean satellite, possibly designed for military purposes, into orbit. The launch occurs a little more than a month after North Korea's spectacular rocket failure in mid-April.

Chinese fishermen captured and taken to North Korea have been safely returned, but mysteries surrounding the incident remain.

A strong earthquake rocked a large swathe of northern Italy early on Sunday, killing at least three people and causing serious damage to the area's cultural heritage.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wed longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan Saturday, announcing the nuptials through a status update on the social networking site.

What will the Chinese Premier, a rare voice for humanism and liberal reform in China, leave behind as his legacy?

A wealthy Chinese criminal whose flight to Canada had embarrassed both governments for more than a decade was sentenced to life for bribery, smuggling, and tax evasion.

The Japanese government is asking businesses and homes to conserve electricity during the summer in order to avoid blackouts, but efforts to restart nuclear reactors continue to encounter resistance by political opponents of the national government.

Facebook may only have itself to blame for why General Motors rained on its IPO parade this week.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has agreed to testify before Congress over the bank's recent trading losses, which have ignited a political debate over whether large U.S. banks need to be reined in by regulators or new laws.

Iran is threatening to seek legal action against Google for failing to use the term 'Persian Gulf' on its maps. The issue over name labels actually elicits strong nationalistic sentiments in the country.

Chinese water experts say that around 50 percent of the country's tap water may not meet national pollutant standards and that water quality in non-coastal cities remains seriously neglected.

Shares in South Korea's Samsung Electronics extended their heavy slide on Thursday, on speculation that arch rival Apple Inc is looking to cut its reliance on Samsung memory chips and turn increasingly to Japanese chipmaker Elpida.

J.C. Penney Co Inc shares plunged nearly 20 percent on Wednesday, their worst decline ever, wiping away $1.43 billion in market value a day after the retailer shocked Wall Street with a much worse-than-expected drop in sales and by scrapping its dividend.

Chinese fishermen are finding themselves at the center of foreign policy disputes between their country and many others across the region. Even friends like North Korea seem to have it out for Chinese fishing vessels.

Stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors continued to worry about Greece's political and financial crisis as the country prepares for its second election in just over a month.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones down around 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4 percent at 4:10 a.m. EDT.

Facebook Inc will increase the size of its initial public offering by 25 percent to raise about $15 billion, a source familiar with the matter said, as strong investor demand for a share of the No.1 social network trumped ongoing debate about the company's long-term potential to make money.

International opinions about which nations serve as a positive influence on global affairs are changing. Around the world, more people are looking to Asia, with Japan topping the list, while increasing numbers are disappointed with Europe. However, Asians themselves remained wary of their neighbors.

Japan has allowed the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) to meet in Tokyo on Monday, the first time the group has met in an Asian country, drawing renewed anger from China.

The euro zone just avoided recession in early 2012, but the region's debt crisis sapped the life out of the French and Italian economies and widened a split with paymaster Germany.

A federal judge in New York on Monday refused to delay the approval process for a controversial $20 million settlement between Bank of America Corp directors and shareholders who accused the bank of overpaying for Merrill Lynch & Co.

As the leader of JPMorgan Chase & Co's hedging unit quit after trading losses that could end up exceeding $3 billion, the board seemed to be rallying behind CEO Jamie Dimon before the huge bank's annual shareholder meeting Tuesday.

China's internet community is abuzz with anger and xenophobia. Netizens are livid over the discovery of an alleged case of attempted rape of a young Chinese woman by a Western tourist in Beijing. However, other examples of selfless good deeds by visiting tourists temper sentiments.