India's prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama meet next week to strengthen ties, with the emerging Asian power increasingly playing a bigger role on global issues such as climate change and trade.

India's plans to launch a major offensive against Maoist rebels in the country's heartlands could jeopardise much-needed humanitarian operations in the impoverished area, the European Commission has warned.

Two Chinese rights activists who sought a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama hours before he left Beijing said on Friday they were briefly detained by police, and one said Washington's sway over rights in China had eroded.

The United States must combat China's trade-distorting industrial and currency policies with U.S. trade laws and by using the World Trade Organization, a congressional advisory body said on Thursday.

Asia is leading the global economy out of the deepest downturn in decades but the recovery will be marred by high unemployment and huge government debt across the industrialised countries, the OECD said on Thursday.

India's prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama meet next week to strengthen ties, with the emerging Asian power increasingly playing a bigger role on global issues such as climate change and trade.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was willing to help North Korea repair its economy and end decades of international isolation if Pyongyang stopped a cycle of threats and finally moved toward nuclear disarmament.

Cuba's Raul Castro has kept the system his brother Fidel used to repress critics, refusing to free scores of people imprisoned years ago and jailing others for "dangerousness," Human Rights Watch said in a report issued on Wednesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in South Korea on Wednesday for talks that will focus on how to tempt North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks and a delayed trade pact between Seoul and Washington.

Hong Kong Wednesday announced a political reform blueprint for electoral arrangements in 2012 that will have a key bearing on the city's struggle to realise direct elections in 2017.

U.S. President Barack Obama took time out of his busy diplomatic schedule in China to meet with his half-brother, who lives in the southern part of the country -- but only for five minutes.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told President Barack Obama his nation does not seek a trade surplus with the United States and wants to balance flows, striking a conciliatory note but avoiding public comment on currency rifts.

U.S. President Barack Obama was set to continue his effort to court China while cajoling it on economic strains on Wednesday, with the final day of his visit featuring talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

China on Monday distanced itself from proposals to delay a binding climate pact to 2010, but might be willing to sign up to a "political deal" at climate talks next month if it includes strong commitments from rich nations.

President Barack Obama will issue an executive order on Tuesday creating an administration-wide task force to crack down on financial fraud following a rise in mortgage scams and high-profile Wall Street trading scandals, an administration official said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao hailed U.S. President Barack Obama's recognition of sovereignty issues dear to China, after a bilateral meeting in Beijing on Tuesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged a reluctant China to let its yuan currency rise in value at a summit where strains over trade between the two giants crept into proclamations of goodwill.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Tuesday that he had agreed with U.S. President Barack Obama to increase international cooperation, after "frank, constructive and fruitful" talks in Beijing.

President Barack Obama has promised to raise the issue of the yuan's exchange rate during his visit this week to Beijing, putting the spotlight on a major bone of contention which has the potential to shake currency markets and diplomatic ties alike.