CHINA

China's Communist Party control is at risk unless the government takes firmer steps to stop Internet opinion being shaped by increasingly organized political foes, a team of party writers warned in a commentary published on Friday.

China is backing off from oil and gas investments in Iran, angering the Islamic republic with move officials and executives said reflected Beijing's efforts to appease Washington and avoid U.S. sanctions on its big energy firms.

The value of palladium, the least known of the world's four major precious metals, is set to rise this year, perhaps more sharply than its more popular cousins.

Muammar Gaddafi, driven into hiding by his foes, on Thursday urged his supporters to fight on, even as Libya's new interim rulers met world leaders to discuss reshaping a nation torn by 42 years of one-man rule and six months of war.

North Korea launched a controversial new cruise ship from the northeastern city of Rason to the resort town of Mount Kumgang.

Should the United States tolerate slightly higher inflation, in order to have the economy grow at a faster rate and create more jobs?

Insatiable demand for safe haven U.S. government bonds is helping mask a potentially huge financial problem -- the need to extend the maturity of debt issued by the United States.

Swiss researchers were able to create micron-sized water droplets by shooting laser beams into the sky, a process that may be a precursor to actually stimulating rainfall.

Chinese environmental groups claim that Apple manufacturers have been releasing harmful pollutants into the environment. A report by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) and other non-governmental Chinese environment groups cited, for example, that an Apple factory in the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi Province released gases into the air that made it difficult for residents to open their windows.

The Shanghai branch of British bank Barclays has won approval to become a trading member of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the seventh foreign financial institute to obtain such membership, said the exchange on its Web site.

The NTC received a large boost on Thursday when Russia finally granted its recognition.

The world’s top oil exporter is expected to increase official oil selling prices of October crude for Asian clients.

Asian stocks rose on Thursday following gains on Wall Street, with technology and consumer shares outperforming, and credit spreads tightened on optimism central banks around the world will have to do more to support industrial activity.

Moammar Gadhafi is in a desert town outside Tripoli planning a counterattack, a Libyan military chief said Thursday morning.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 down 0.1 to 0.4 percent.

Financial markets kicked off September in a cautious mood Thursday with European stocks lower and world equities struggling to keep up what would be a five-day winning streak.

Every year tourists gather to watch the soaring tide on the banks of Qiantang River in Haining, eastern China. The tides and waves recorded the highest level in 10 years ahead of Typhoon Nanmadol.

Slumping export demand slowed factory activity in some of Asia's biggest economies in August, although China fared better thanks to solid domestic growth, a series of surveys released on Thursday showed.

Asian stocks rose Thursday following gains on Wall Street, with technology and consumer shares outperforming, and credit spreads tightened on optimism that central banks worldwide will have to do more to support industrial activity.

Solar start-up Solyndra LLC, succumbing to pressure from lower-cost Chinese rivals, said it has suspended operations and plans to file for bankruptcy, 15 months after President Barack Obama visited a company factory that was to be expanded with the help of a federal loan guarantee.

Researchers have shown for the first time that a single intravenous infusion of a genetically engineered virus can home in on cancer, killing tumor cells in patients without harming healthy tissue.