CHINA

With hopes of changing Moscow's stance on Damascus, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Russia's relationship with Syria is bringing the country toward civil war.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon actress Zhang Ziyi, who is the center of a prostitution scandal involving high-profile Chinese men including Bo Xilai for millions of dollars, denied the allegations smeared in Chinese media, adding she will sue for the false claims.

Another worker riot has flared up in Eastern China, fed by anger and frustration against the government.

Shares of smartphone manufacturers Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) and Nokia (NYS: NOK) swooned this week on fears of mounting losses and dwindling share.

Pakistan Thursday test fired a medium range cruise missile capable of delivering nuclear and conventional warheads within a range of 350 kilometers.

Chinese security officials have detained hundreds of Tibetans in Lhasa following multiple self-immolation protests against the Chinese control over Tibet, a US-based broadcaster has reported.

Japanese industrial output rose in April at a slower pace than expected, in a discouraging sign that China's slowing economy and Europe's sovereign debt crisis will weigh on Japan's recovery.

Local reporter suggests that Daisey is responsible for the New York Times investigation of factory conditions at Foxconn.

Can you really protect your allies while still cutting the military? That's the conundrum the U.S. is now facing, even as it talks about pivoting back to Asia and returning in force to the Western Pacific.

Crude oil prices slid more than 3 percent Wednesday on fears of a slowdown in global economic growth. U.S. stocks also closed lower, with major indexes all down more than 1 percent and yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury sank to a record 1.64 percent.

Students at Dalian University of Technology in China are under fire - literally -- with school officials after a graduation photo of a group throwing their hats up in the air with a building burning as the backdrop went viral online. The graduates are seen in the photo unfazed by the dormitory which appears to be engulfed in a plume of smoke in the background while wearing their gowns and throwing their caps in the air.

Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said in Washington on Wednesday that he will travel to Moscow in the very near future.

The Middle East situation is purely theoretical to the other nations on our planet, but not to Israeli Jews.

A history of the Russia-Syria military relationship, starting with the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Several western celebrities have adopted a child from Africa, and a new report from the African Child Policy Forum shows that many other hopeful parents are following suit. But the inter-country adoption process is rife with complications, and the ACPF explains exactly why it is in need of reform

Industrial commodities and global stocks fell sharply Wednesday as evidence mounted that the global economy's highfliers are dangerously close to stall speed. Yields on 10-year Treasuries tumbled to a record low 1.64 percent.

?Diablo 3? has yet to see a release date in China, and fans are using names such as ?America?s Big Pineapple? to search for the game online, according to Reuters. The country?s leading e-commerce platform has shut down sales at the government's request due to pending approval from Chinese authorities.

The Chinese government says it will allocate the equivalent of $27 billion to renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in 2012, but the battle against the deterioration of China's environment will be a long and tough one.

China will not see any major government stimulus in the near future, a report published by the state-run media agency Xinhua said Wednesday, news which sent tremors through Chinese stock markets.

Several parts of Homs were shelled Wednesday morning while Damascus witnessed overnight explosions, close on the heels of UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's warning that the recent violence had left Syria at a tipping point.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a lower opening Wednesday ahead of anticipated reports on the Mortgage Applications Index and Pending Home Sales.