CHINA

U.S. auto sales tumbled by 23 percent in September as showrooms emptied after the government-funded boom from the cash for clunkers program, with General Motors Co and Chrysler hardest-hit.

A Curtin University of Technology study has found that regular moderate activity such as housework, gardening, or walking, can reduce the risk of ischemic stroke in the elderly. Ischemic stroke is caused by blockage of arteries leading to or in the brain.

Talks between Iran and six major powers over Tehran's nuclear program on Thursday opened the door to improved relations as Iran agreed to allow U.N. inspectors into a newly disclosed uranium enrichment plant.

The United States said on Thursday six-power talks with Iran had opened the door to better relations with the West but cautioned Tehran it must take concrete steps to prove it was not seeking nuclear arms.

Foreign minister S.M. Krishna said on Wednesday China should not object to the Dalai Lama's planned trip to a northeast Indian state, part of which Beijing claims in a festering border dispute between the two Asian powers.

China celebrated its wealth and rising might with a show of goose-stepping troops, gaudy floats and nuclear-capable missiles in Beijing on Thursday, 60 years after Mao Zedong proclaimed its embrace of communism.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has fined discount retailer Target Corp (TGT.N) $600,000 for allegedly violating a federal lead paint ban on toys.

The United States said it held the highest level direct talks with Iran in three decades on Thursday to try to put to rest Western suspicions Tehran is planning a nuclear bomb.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday declared that a global economic recovery has begun led by Asia, also cautioning that the strength of the rebound depended on a rebalancing of global growth.

Activity in global capital markets may be flat or even lower next year as the world economy struggles to pull out of recession, according to a survey released Thursday by RBC Capital Markets.

China's National Day military parade held no big surprises but there were tantalizing clues for experts assessing the modernization of the world's biggest fighting force.

Millions of people were battling on Thursday to cope with the aftermath of a typhoon that cut a destructive path through parts of Southeast Asia, killing 400, as an even stronger storm headed toward the Philippines.

Six world powers held talks with Iran on Thursday that U.S. officials said would need to convince them Tehran was prepared to show it was not hiding plans for a nuclear bomb.

David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia

Warning on CIT; U.S. Outlook Brighter; Lewis to Step Down

Manufacturing activity surged across Asia in September as demand picked up, although plans by Japanese manufacturers for record cuts in capital spending cast doubts on the strength of a recovery in the industrialized world.

Manufacturing activity surged across Asia in September as demand picked up, although plans by Japanese manufacturers for record cuts in capital spending cast doubts on the strength of a recovery in the industrialized world.

Asian shares fell on Thursday after negative news on U.S. jobs and manufacturing pointed to a patchy recovery in the world's largest economy, and as dollar weakness sparked concerns for exporters around the region.

China celebrated its ascendance with a show of goose-stepping troops, gaudy floats and nuclear-capable missiles in the nation's capital on Thursday, 60 years after Mao Zedong proclaimed its embrace of communism.

Asian shares fell on Thursday after a surprise drop in manufacturing in the U.S. heartland cast doubts on the strength of a global recovery, while the dollar was on the back foot against higher-yielding currencies.

South Korea surpassed Japan and Sweden to take the top spot in an annual ranking of broadband quality, helped by its government's efforts to boost it as an IT world leader, a study showed on Thursday.