CHINA

The Group of Eight nations should not presume a global economic recovery is near, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a letter to G8 host Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi obtained by Reuters on Monday.

China will begin construction of a 120-billion yuan ($17.6 billion) wind power project in about two weeks in Gansu province as part of a major push to boost renewable energy and cut the nation's reliance on coal, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Porsche on Monday denied a newspaper report which said five more potential bidders have emerged for a Porsche-owned derivatives package which controls around 20 percent of Volkswagen voting shares.

China clamped down on the Internet in the capital of China's northwestern region of Xinjiang on Monday, in the hope of stemming the flow of information about ethnic unrest which left 140 people dead.

The financial crisis has laid bare defects in the dollar-led global economy and the world should look to displace the U.S. currency, even if that will take many years, Chinese officials said in comments published on Monday.

Markets got off to a hesitant start Monday as investor doubts on the staying power of a global recovery kept Asian stocks soggy and currencies subdued ahead of a much-expanded Group of Eight meeting this week.

Markets got off to a hesitant start Monday as investor doubts on the staying power of a global recovery kept Asian stocks soggy and currencies subdued ahead of a much-expanded Group of Eight meeting this week.

France and Russia on Sunday urged a debate about the world's reserve currencies, but China said the dollar would keep its pre-eminence for many years to come.

Flooding and heavy rain in southern China have forced 550,000 people to evacuate their homes and killed at least 15, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

If the majority of Wall Street economists are right, the U.S. recession will end this quarter and the global recovery won't be far behind.

World leaders are bound to express the hope that the worst of the global economic crisis is passing when they meet this week, but they are now under pressure, too, to manage a Chinese challenge to dollar supremacy.

Michael Jackson went from being Gary, Ind.'s most talented kid to one of the most recognizable human beings on the planet.

North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday, South Korea's defense ministry said, in an act of defiance against the United States as Washington cracks down on the secretive state's weapons proliferation.

North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday, South Korea's defense ministry said, in an act of defiance toward the United States on its Independence Day that further stoked regional tensions.

China said on Saturday its policy toward foreign acquisitions of domestic firms was fair, explaining that broader national concerns take precedence over the potential benefits to any single company.

Next weeks G8 may shine the spotlight on the USD as the global standard

Wall Street may be down on its luck, but China's growing business hub, Shanghai, plans to install its own version of the Street's famed charging bull statue, casting in metal its hopes to eventually rival New York.

Teck Resources said on Friday it will sell a 17.2 percent equity stake to state-owned China Investment Corp in a deal that will help the Canadian miner pay down its debt while expanding China's portfolio of commodity investments.

China's ambitious plan to increase wind power capacity could attract up to $150 billion in investment, but Beijing will have to get serious about revamping regulations and building much needed infrastructure.

The dollar's status as the top global reserve currency is unlikely to be mentioned explicitly in the final communique at next week's Group of Eight summit, a European G8 source involved in preparations for the meeting said on Friday.

Canada's Teck Resources said on Friday it will sell a 17.2 percent equity stake to state-owned China Investment Corp in a deal that will help Teck pay down debt while expanding China's portfolio of commodity investments.