CHINA

China's top search engine Baidu Inc launched a new mobile application system on Friday, seeking to bolster its presence in the mobile web as competitors including Alibaba Group increase their mobile offerings.

Gold prices held steady Friday as investors stood on the sidelines ahead of a key U.S. payrolls report due later in the day

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.

China's top search engine Baidu Inc on Friday launched its new mobile application system, Baidu Yi, it said in a statement.

The global economy faces risks from both slowed growth and persistent inflationary pressure, which is spilling over from emerging to advanced economies, Ma Delun, a vice-governor at China's central bank, said in comments reported on Friday.

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.

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.

Stock index futures fell on Thursday following strong gains over the past several sessions as investors awaited labor and manufacturing data for clues on the state of the economy.

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.

Factory activity worldwide stalled last month as new orders tumbled, heightening fears that the global economy may be heading for another recession and driving stock markets lower.

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

Factory activity worldwide stalled last month as new orders tumbled, a series of surveys showed on Thursday, heightening fears that the global economy may be heading for another recession.

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.