Movement around an atomic test site in North Korea indicates the reclusive state may stage another nuclear test, a South Korean minister said on Monday, an act that would further drive up tensions on the Korean peninsula. The comments, made in response to a newspaper report, followed unusually harsh rebukes of North Korea at the

The yen tumbled while Japanese stocks and government bonds rallied on Monday as the Bank of Japan lost no time embarking on its ambitious stimulus drive, but weak U.S. jobs data and regional risks such as North Korea weighed on other assets. European markets were likely to inch higher, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE

A strain of bird flu that has been found in humans for the first time in eastern China is not a cause for panic, the World Health Organization said on Monday, as the number of people infected rose to 21, with six deaths. The WHO praised China for mobilising resources nationwide to combat the H7N9

The outlook for Spain's banking system is negative, as it has been since 2008, Moody's Investors Service said in a new Banking System Outlook, on the expectation that the banks will continue to operate in a recessionary economy, burdened by high levels on non-performing assets that are expected to significantly deteriorate further, with continued pressure

It may be a chilly spring in the Northern Hemisphere and a scorching autumn in Southern Hemisphere countries like Australia, but time is marching on as clocks are changed across the planet. Europe and North America have already sprung forward to daylight savings time and Southern Hemisphere countries are falling back to standard time. That's

Experts from around the world are in daily talks about the threat posed by a deadly new strain of bird flu in China, including discussions on if and when to start making a vaccine. Any decision to mass-produce vaccines against H7N9 flu will not be taken lightly, since it will mean sacrificing production of seasonal

Ireland's central bank said on Friday the country's gradual economic recovery was broadly on track, barely changing its growth forecasts but warning the government it could not afford to ease back on its austerity programme. It predicted gross domestic product would expand by 1.2 percent, a touch below the 1.3 percent foreseen three months ago,

U.S. President Barack Obama will offer cuts to Social Security and other entitlement programs in a budget proposal aimed at swaying Republicans to compromise on a deficit-reduction deal, a senior administration official said on Friday. Under a proposal that would cut the deficit by $1.8 trillion over 10 years, the president will offer to apply