WORLD

It's too early to be sure, but signs that China's current account surplus will keep shrinking as a share of national output could draw some of the venom from the debate on global economic imbalances preoccupying the G20.

It's the local battle with national implications, as Washington, in the midst of its own budget battle, has weighed in on the situation in Wisconsin that is drawing thousands of upset state workers to rally in the state's capital - many teachers included - over a proposal to eliminate some collective bargaining rights as part of the bid by the Governor to balance the state's budget immediately and make it easier to do so going forward.

China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Thursday that Beijing will decide the pace of the appreciation of the yuan on its own and would not take into account pressure from other countries.

Reform of the international monetary system is needed to prevent foreign assets flooding to one particular currency, the head of the People's Bank of China said on Friday.

International Business Times spoke with Douglas Yates, a professor of political science at the American Graduate School in Paris as well as The American University of Paris, about the Front National (FN) and its charismatic new female chief.

An Egyptian prosecutor has ordered the arrest of three former government ministers and a prominent businessman on suspicion they wasted public funds, in a bid to appease the outrage of ordinary Egyptians over corruption in Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s prepared remarks at the Banque de France Financial Stability Review Launch Event, Paris, France, Feb. 18, 2011

Germany’s defense minister has found himself in a quagmire over allegations that he plagiarized portions of his doctoral thesis.

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has served a warning that the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled to be held on March 13, could be canceled if the unrest in Bahrain doesn't die down soon.

Libya said on Friday that it has decided to postpone indefinitely the 23rd summit of Arab League, a 22-member forum representing Arab nations, said a media report.

China on Friday raised banks' required reserves by 50 basis points, showing no let-up in a campaign to stamp out stubbornly high inflation.

As authorities in Middle East countries hit by protests continue to censor media and disrupt communication, deaths and the consequent funerals in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya are expected to escalate the unrest.

Thousands of protesters chanting anti-government slogans marched through Bahraini city of Sitra on Friday as they buried comrades killed in the government's crackdown on demonstrations which erupted this week.

The overall cost to the UK economy from cyber crime is £27bn per year, according to a report commissioned by the Cabinet Office into the integrity of computer systems and threats of industrial espionage.

Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs, who is rumored to have been fighting terminal cancer, attended a meeting of tech honchos with President Barack Obama in the outskirts of San Francisco City on Thursday.

President Barack Obama's fiscal 2012 budget proposal to Congress showed a small decline from what is expected to be the previous year's budget, with the deficit set to decrease by nearly a third thanks mostly to higher taxes.

The consensus is that the upcoming G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers will address the issue of food inflation, the hot button issue of the day.

Dr. Paul Beran, the Outreach Director at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University is a researcher, writer and teacher on civil society in the Middle East. International Business Times spoke with Beran to discuss the current unrest in the region.

Criticism of China's exchange-rate policy continues throughout the US. This column argues that the US is in fact the exchange rate manipulator, due to its ongoing quantitative easing. What the US needs to do for a sustainable turnaround is to learn from other successful economies like China and Germany - not de-rail them.

Reports are coming out of Libya of increased anti-government protests which have left at least sixteen people dead, as activists have called for a “Day of Rage” through social networking sites.

Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the former ruler of Tunisia is seriously ill in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, where he fled to exile, according to various media reports.

Reports have surfaced that President Barack Obama is meeting with several tech executives including Apple's Steve Jobs and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that an election promised by September would not be held if Hamas refused to allow voting in the Gaza Strip.

Iraqi authorities have arrested a high-ranking police official in connection with the purchase of a bomb detector that the British government says does not work, officials said on Thursday.

Amidst growing political unrest in Algeria, one of the country’s founding fathers has called for a peaceful change in government, accusing the present regime of incompetence.

Fierce clashes between protesters and government loyalists left at least 40 wounded in Yemen on Thursday, the seventh day of demonstrations demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule.

There are now increasing concerns that rising Treasury yields will begin to push stock prices lower and punish new entrants to the equity market. Our view is that there is still plenty of room for risk-free interest rates to rise without having a negative impact on the current equity rally.

The cancellation of plans by two Iranian naval vessels to pass through the strategic Suez Canal removed on Thursday a potential foreign policy headache for the new military rulers struggling to get Egypt back on its feet.

Satellite images show North Korea has likely completed a second long range missile launchpad, an expert said on Thursday, amid U.S. concerns that Pyongyang's ballistic missile programme is fast becoming a direct threat.