CHINA

North Korea re-elected Kim Jong-il as its supreme military leader at its newly seated parliament on Thursday, marking his return to center stage as the country celebrates what it calls a triumphant satellite launch.

Waste Management Inc. the biggest company in the U.S. that transports trash is in talks to build and operate waste-to-energy plants in China.

Somali pirates defied international naval powers on Thursday to keep an American ship captain hostage on a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean after their first seizure of U.S. citizens.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will inaugurate the country's first nuclear fuel production complex later on Thursday, an Iranian official told Reuters.

A U.S. Navy destroyer arrived off Somalia on Thursday to apply pressure for the release of an American ship captain taken hostage in the first seizure of U.S. citizens by increasingly bold pirates.

Dutch ING plans to sell operations worth up to 8 billion euros ($10.6 billion) to reduce risk, focus its bank on Europe, and manage its banking and insurance separately, boosting its shares on Thursday.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday after the New York Times reported the U.S. banking industry seems to be in better shape than many people think, citing officials involved in the federal stress tests.

China announced plans Wednesday to inject 850 billion yuan ($124 billion) into reforming its health care system over the next three years, according to a report.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called Wednesday for a united front between Gulf Arab countries and global powers to deal with Iran.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said yesterday that he supports investments to develop technology that captures and stores carbon emissions originated from burning coal, but added that it would take a minimum of eight years to develop a cost-effective technology.

U.S. concerns about the potential for cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure extended to the American electrical power grid on Wednesday and experts pointed the finger anew at Chinese hackers, among others.

Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Shouting soldiers at a mass rally on Wednesday celebrated North Korea's defiant launch of a rocket, while Russia's foreign minister said any new punishment for Pyongyang could be counter-productive.

U.S. President Barack Obama needs to convince Americans to spend now and save later in order to get the U.S. economy back on solid footing.

At first glance, a new day seems to be dawning for the overshadowed solar sector in Australia, the world's sunniest continent.

Chinese exports in March were down by double digits from a year earlier, but the decline was smaller than in February, a newspaper linked to the Ministry of Commerce reported on Wednesday.

Intel Corp, the world's largest chip maker, is uncertain when demand for semiconductors will revive, Chairman Craig Barrett said on Wednesday.

A deficit of aluminum in China will be short lived as rumors that smelters are preparing to restart production circulate, Alcoa chief executive Klaus Kleinfeld said on Tuesday.

The Pentagon spent more than $100 million in the past six months to repair damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems, military leaders said Tuesday.