United Nations peacekeepers were braced for full-scale war in central Africa yesterday as Rwandan-backed rebels closed in on the Congolese city of Goma, sending government troops and civilians fleeing in panic.

SHANGHAI'S key stock index extended losses today in the wake of a big drop on Wall Street as jittery investors showed concern over a deepening global financial crisis. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.72...

SHANGHAI'S Baoshan District yesterday began construction of 52 key industrial projects with a total investment of 12.3 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) as the city moves to shore up economic growth. The projects will...

CHINA will deposit 50 billion yuan (US$7.3 billion) of government funds into commercial lenders this month in a bid to boost liquidity for lending and bolster returns of its treasury money. The cash will be deposited...

DETROIT'S embattled automakers have two weeks to show a skeptical Congress how a multibillion-dollar lifeline will help them keep the industry from imploding. A bailout-shy Congress punted a US$25 billion auto...

CHINA'S main stock indexes dropped sharply this morning, taking cues from stumbles on Wall Street and markets in Asia on worries that a global recession may hurt the country badly. The Shanghai Composite Index...

PLANES began taking off from new multimillion-dollar runways at three US airports yesterday with aviation officials heralding the increased capacity as crucial to reducing delays, even in the face of a slumping economy...

STOCKS in the United States plunged for a second straight day yesterday, falling to levels not seen in at least five years as financial and energy stocks tumbled while demand for the safety of government debt spiked....

Honda, the Japanese carmaker, today said it will close its factory in Swindon for two months, leaving 5,000 workers without pay for February and March.

CRUDE oil futures yesterday hit levels not seen in more than three years on dour economic reports suggesting a painful economic pullback in the United States. Benchmark crude fell as low as US$48.50 a barrel on...

An officer from the US Embassy in Beijing said on November 20 that the student and exchange visitor visas issued to Chinese nationals in the 2008 fiscal year increased by about 40% year-on-year with the US Administration welcoming more Chinese students to study in the US. The visa officer said that the US has no limit on the number of foreign students entering the country for study purposes, and it warmly welcomes all Chinese students who meet the relevant requirements to study in the US. ...

The Three Gorges Project has turned over a total 20.277 billion yuan in national taxes since its first generating unit began operation on July 10, 2003, according to the State Administration of Taxation of the Three Gorges dam zone in Yichang, Hubei province. Since the first turbine generator was put in use, there are now 26 turbine generators in operation as of October 30 this year. By adding 100 megawatts of electricity from the electrical power supply plant, the project's installed cap ...

The Three Gorges Project has turned over a total 20.277 billion yuan in national taxes since its first generating unit began operation on July 10, 2003, according to the State Administration of Taxation of the Three Gorges dam zone in Yichang, Hubei province. Since the first turbine generator was put in use, there are now 26 turbine generators in operation as of October 30 this year. By adding 100 megawatts of electricity from the electrical power supply plant, the project's installed cap ...

Beijing municipality decided to add 6 billion yuan in government investment in the fourth quarter of this year to the original amount allocated. Wang Haiping, deputy director general of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, revealed on Nov. 19. The fund will be used for rail transit construction, improvement of unsafe buildings, electric heating of urban single-story houses, promotion of agricultural development and rural construction, as well as the enlargement of the s ...

Individual investors were allowed to buy and sell Au99.95-category gold as of Friday at the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), the Shanghai Securities News reported. In a notice issued on Thursday, the SGE said from Friday it would allow individual traders to buy and sell Au99.95, the type of gold used in the manufacturing of ornamental items. It also said Chinese commercial banks were free to decide the date to start individual gold investment services. The minimum trading lot size w ...

Individual investors were allowed to buy and sell Au99.95-category gold as of Friday at the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), the Shanghai Securities News reported. In a notice issued on Thursday, the SGE said from Friday it would allow individual traders to buy and sell Au99.95, the type of gold used in the manufacturing of ornamental items. It also said Chinese commercial banks were free to decide the date to start individual gold investment services. The minimum trading lot size w ...

Thirteen years after a young model's body was found at the bottom of a 180 foot cliff in Sydney, her British boyfriend has been convicted of her murder.

China Telecom and Microsoft recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement. They announced that they will jointly develop in China a co-branded Messenger, instant communication software, based on the new generation Windows Live service platform released by Microsoft. The person-in-charge of China Telecom said that this cooperation will further support China Telecom's strategy to make itself a world's leading provider of comprehensive information. According to the terms of the agreemen ...

China Telecom and Microsoft recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement. They announced that they will jointly develop in China a co-branded Messenger, instant communication software, based on the new generation Windows Live service platform released by Microsoft. The person-in-charge of China Telecom said that this cooperation will further support China Telecom's strategy to make itself a world's leading provider of comprehensive information. According to the terms of the agreemen ...

As winter approaches, post-disaster reconstruction in the earthquake-stricken areas of Sichuan Province is underway in an intensive and orderly manner. Thousand volunteers from the "Special Task of Earthquake Relief by Volunteers from the College Graduates Serving the West Program" have joined the effort. After the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake, the Central Committee of Communist Youth League of China, the PRC Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Human Resources and So ...