CHINA

Cytisine, a plant-based drug discovered by the Soviet Union more than 40 years ago, may be the key to lowering cigarette smoking rates in the developing world.

Spain nominated a film in Catalan for the first time ever on Wednesday as its candidate for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards, ahead of a picture by two-time Oscar winner Pedro Almodovar which stars Antonio Banderas.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke speech Wednesday at the Cleveland Clinic 'Ideas for Tomorrow' Series:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not comment on the U.S. economy or monetary policy in a speech about emerging markets on Wednesday.

Youcef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor in Iran, faces the death penalty if he refuses to convert to Islam. Nadarkhani, who was arrested in 2009, has been given three chances to repent and convert to Islam. All three times he has refused. Nadarkhani will be given his fourth and final chance to give up Christianity on Wednesday, which he again declined.

In Syria, anti-government protesters continue undeterred as President Bashar al-Assad intensifies his forceful crackdown against demonstrations. Over the last five days, at least 76 people have been killed in the northern cities of Homs and Hama and in the southern Daraa region, according to activist reports.

The U.S. Senate will likely take up President Barack Obama's jobs bill in October, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev,. says he has a more important jobs bill to bring to the Senate floor first: one that treats China's fixed yuan as an anti-competitive trade practice.

Residents of the Philippines' capital city, Manila, began cleaning up after Typhoon Nesat brought widespread flooding that killed 21 people and left over two dozen missing.

Kobe Bryant said it is very possible he will play in Italy during the current NBA lockout, according to The Associated Press. It would make sense because the five-time NBA champion and 13-time all-star spent some of his childhood there.

According to a Beijing Times report, the Shenzhou-10, which will be China's sixth manned spacecraft, is likely to carry Chinese female astronauts into space.

The Dalai Lama was scheduled to attend the 80th birthday of his friend and fellow Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu in early October.

Shanghai metro officials said the subway crash in the city on Tuesday was the result of a power failure and manual error. The Metro company claims that controllers failed to follow proper protocol after the shortage.

China will officially begin its own Space Age on Thursday when the country will launch Tiangong-1, its first independent space lab module.

This week, China has plans to launch its first prototype of a future space station. Being the third nation to send a person to space, China leaves the rest of the world anxious for their launch event.

Typhoon Nesat's path drove it off of the Philippines and into the South China Sea on Wednesday, but many parts of the country are still unsafe.

Gold rose on Wednesday, gaining from investor unease over the lack of a solution to the European debt crisis that dented other more industrial raw materials, such as crude oil and copper, ahead of further possibly weak U.S. data.

Amid the second-largest gold sell-off since 1983, the casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that investors were dumping bullion in droves.

China is set to enter its own Space Age with the launch of its first independent space lab module this weekend.

Pakistan warned the United States on Tuesday to stop accusing it of playing a double game with Islamist militants and heaped praise on all-weather friend China.

Nesat, a Category 3 typhoon hit the Philippines Tuesday, killing at least 18 people and causing heavy flooding that isolated parts of Manila.

China's largest Internet company Tencent Holdings Ltd plans to cooperate with American Express Co to provide cross-border online payments, a source said on Wednesday, as the country's electronics commerce sector grows rapidly.