CHINA

Beijing solidified a business partnership with Zimbabwe last week that unionists say is responsible for abusive work environments across the southern African nation.

Baidu, which has three-quarters of China's search market, signed a deal with Microsoft's Bing to offer English-language search to Baidu users, as it eyes an overseas expansion and Microsoft aims to increase its presence in the world's largest Internet market.

Arsenal duo Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri are expected to inform manager Arsene Wenger that they want to leave the London club in what promises to be awkward conversations.

World stocks hit a 4-1/2 week high Monday as investors grew confident over global economic prospects after Greece avoided an early debt default and data pointed to a moderate slowdown in China's growth.

Thousands of people are expected at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, which is set to begin today with pre-show at 10 am.

Reserve-rich Asia can afford to turn on the government spending taps should a recent bout of sluggish economic growth deteriorate into a deeper downturn.

Researchers from Japan have discovered vast quantities of rare earth deposits on the floor of the Pacific Ocean that might challenge the dominance of China as world's leading provider.

Mongolia chose U.S. miner Peabody Energy , a venture between China's Shenhua <1088.HK> and Japan's Mitsui & Co <8031.T>, and a Russian-led consortium as preliminary winners to jointly develop the prized Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit, a senior government source said on Monday.

China's central bank pledged on Monday to keep its prudent policy to wrestle inflation under control, but signaled some concerns over slowing growth by stressing policy stability.

Japan's Fujifilm aims to become the world's fourth largest camera maker by next March and the No. 3 manufacturer two years later, overtaking first rival Samsung and then Nikon, a senior company executive said.

President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan concludes his state visit to China.

Asian equities climbed a fifth consecutive session on Monday, led by Chinese stocks, though the euro turned lower after ratings agency S&P warned that any rollover of Greek's debt would constitute a default.

Mongolia chose miner Peabody Energy , a venture between China's Shenhua <1088.HK> and Japan's Mitsui & Co <8031.T>, and a Russian-led consortium as preliminary winners to jointly develop the prized Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit, a senior government source said on Monday.

China's Lenovo and NEC Corp of Japan said on Monday they expect to lift their combined market share in Japan's PC market by about 5 percent in three years through their joint sales venture.

Vast deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial in making high-tech electronics products, have been found on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and can be readily extracted, Japanese scientists said on Monday.

U.S. miner Peabody Energy , a venture between China's Shenhua <1088.HK> and Japan's Mitsui & Co <8031.T> and a Russian-led consortium have been picked as preliminary winners to jointly develop the prized Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit, a senior Mongolian government source said on Monday.

Asian equities climbed a fifth consecutive session on Monday, led by Chinese stocks, and the euro inched higher as some near-term risks receded about Greece's funding for the rest of the year and a slowdown in China appeared relatively moderate.

Rolling Stone, a U.S.-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture, has come up with an index of 16 solo female artists. It ranked the artists on the basis of six criteria including album and digital song sales, Hot 100 rankings, radio airplay, YouTube views, social media, concert grosses, industry awards and critics' ratings.

A policy overhaul to be decided by Cabinet within weeks would remove all gender barriers from the military next year.

Here is a list of LaBeouf's known past flings and love interests, with the most recent revelation of Megan Fox shocking the public.

China's IPO market slowed by a fifth in the first half of 2011 amid a lack of mega deals that hit the market the year before, with fundraisings dominated by small businesses, a trend that analysts said could last for a few more months.