A closely watched indicator of Chinese manufacturing turned positive for the first time in four months in August, HSBC said Thursday, in a sign of renewed strength in the world's second-largest economy.
Once one of China's highest-flying politicians, Bo Xilai will find himself in a criminal dock Thursday on trial for bribery and abuse of power in the country's highest-profile prosecution in decades.
The world's 136 largest coastal cities could risk combined annual losses of $1 trillion (750 billion euros) from floods by 2050 unless they drastically raise their defences.
The world's leading furniture chain Ikea on Thursday issued a recall of two models of children's beds after several reported cases of a broken metal rod that exposed sharp edges.
Hong Kong battened down Wednesday as Severe Typhoon Utor forced the closure of the city's financial market and schools and disrupted hundreds of flights after leaving six dead in the Philippines.
A Chinese woman infected with the deadly H7N9 bird flu virus died of multiple organ failure, a Beijing hospital said, bringing the total fatalities from the disease to 45.
Oil prices charged back Friday after falling for five straight sessions, helped by stronger-than-expected numbers on Chinese industrial output in July.
Scientists proposed developing a more potent strain of the deadly H7N9 bird flu on Wednesday to examine how mutant forms might spread among humans, a topic that has stoked global alarm in the past.