CHINA

Japan has evidence that China shipped missile launch vehicles to North Korea last year, in a possible breach of U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang, Japanese media reported Wednesday.

Stock markets in China and Hong Kong declined Thursday as weaker-than-expected data on monthly U.S. retail sales and renewed concerns about the debt-laden euro zone weighed on the sentiment.

This week, leaders from India and the United States will gather in Washington to discuss our expanding cooperation on everything from trade to technology to terrorism. There also will be issues on which we don't see eye to eye, and some of those may dominate the media coverage.

Technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti appealed to Italy's politicians on Wednesday to back his tough economic medicine to avoid Rome becoming the next victim of the euro debt crisis, after a bailout for Spain's banks failed to calm markets.

Something strange is going to take place next week at the G-20 summit: Europe, long accustomed to sending aid through the International Monetary Fund to developing nations, will pass a collection plate to many of those same countries. But to get such help, which could be as much as $105 billion from four major emerging economies, European nations will have to surrender some control of the IMF.

A wave of smog in East Central China over the last five days has led to new skepticism on the country's battle against air pollution.

Wal-Mart lawyers have identified India, China, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico as the most corrupt countries, according to a letter from two congressmen investigating the bribery charges leveled against the company.

Chinese authorities are stepping up their hunt for illegal firearms as part of a broader effort to combat organized crime and illicit trade.

Stock markets in Hong Kong and China advanced Wednesday following an overnight rally in Wall Street overnight.

Iran also said Tuesday that it had begun the overhaul of one of the three Russian-made nuclear-powered submarines in its fleet despite Moscow rejecting Tehran's requests for help with the remodeling, Iran's Fars News Agency reported.

20% of surveyed Chinese companies indicate convenience and reduced FX risk for the preference to be paid in Chinese renminbi

The U.S. singled out China on Monday in its effort to push the international community to place additional economic pressure on Iran.

U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson has taken a leave of absence after being involved in two bizarre, back-to-back traffic accidents in California over the weekend.

Opposition groups in Russia published their Manifesto of Free Russia, which demands an end to Putin's 12-year rule.

Though rents went down, grocery bills shrank and companies trimmed their workforce after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo edged past Angolan capital Luanda to become the world?s most expensive city for expatriates in Mercer?s 2012 survey.

India's supply of liquified natural gas (LNG) is set to expand as Petronet, the country's largest LNG importer, seeks $1 billion to expand its import capacity.

Among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Tuesday are: Ceragon Networks, Renren, Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Telefonica, EzChip Semiconductor, Banco Santander, Siemens, Pfizer and Goodyear Tire & Rubber.

By the end of this week, China may have already finished its first manned space docking and successfully sent its first woman into space.

Stock markets in China and Hong Kong declined Tuesday, following losses on the Wall Street overnight as the early optimism over the Spanish bailout plan faded.

At the 2012 Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, Apple announced that the next version of its OS X operating system for Macs, dubbed Mountain Lion, will be released in July. The company did not give out a specific date and time.

China's May data dump over the weekend and on Monday painted a mixed picture of the economic health of the world's second-largest economy.