Africa/International

BP finished pumping cement into its ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico  on Thursday to seal off the source of the world's worst offshore spill, paving the way to permanently plug the blow-out later this month. The daylong cementing…

Regulators tried to reassure financial markets about "stress tests" ordered on Chinese banks' real estate lending, saying Friday they do not represent official views of where the market is headed or any impending policy change. Stock…

The value of diamonds looted by Sierra Leone's rebels and allegedly traded for weapons with Charles Taylor, the West African warlord, could have been as high as £950 million. Instead of helping Sierra Leone, the world's poorest country,…

The Government should consider banning strikes by workers in essential services as unions shape up to take action against spending cuts, an employers' group has suggested. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said…

Faster job growth is needed to accelerate the recovery, but economists worry the government's July employment report won't show strong gains. Without more jobs, Americans are likely to remain cautious with their spending, restraining the…

Hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean says he has submitted the necessary paperwork to run for president of Haiti, a country he left when he was a child. Jean made the anticipated announcement Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live." The singer…

The private-sector lending arm of the World Bank is leading large government-owned wealth and state pension groups into frontier markets in Africa and elsewhere where few big investors have sought to venture. The hope is that by investing…

Most Asian stock markets rose Thursday as economic data relieved worries about a second recession in the world's biggest economy but gains were modest ahead of a closely watched U.S. jobs report. Markets have been volatile the past few…

Problems continued to mount for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) on Wednesday as its stock sank more than four per cent further after dropping by a similar margin on Tuesday. With the new BlackBerry Torch 9800 not getting a great…

Toyota's Prius  topped Japan sales rankings in July for the 15th straight month, getting a perk from incentives for green cars and helping Japanese sales of Toyota hybrid models reach a million vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's…