China's growth ebbed in the third quarter while inflation edged just a touch higher, showing that the world's second-largest economy was strong but far from overheating and suggesting that an interest rate rise this week may be enough for now. Although the suite of data published on Thursday was broadly in line with forecasts, the

In a huge study aimed at broadening the use of Merck & Co's shingles vaccine, Zostavax reduced the incidence of the painful disease by 70% compared with a placebo in adults in their 50s, the company said. The 22,439-subject study monitored adults aged 50 to 59 for at least one year after receiving either the

Morgan Stanley reported a surprising third-quarter loss, suggesting the bank is losing hard-won ground in the battle with Goldman Sachs for Wall Street supremacy. The firm's $91 mln loss, on weak volumes during one of the most difficult trading quarters in recent memory, came a day after Goldman overcame those same conditions to beat Street

Britain will cut half a million jobs, slash the welfare state and raise the retirement age as part of an unprecedented cost-cutting drive that will test the strength of both the economy and the ruling coalition. Conservative finance minister George Osborne's spending review on Wednesday turned up the heat on the Liberal Democrat coalition partners

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was pilloried by coalition allies and the media on Wednesday for an alleged sellout to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, dropping German demands for automatic enforcement of EU budget rules. Caught off guard by the deal reached in the French town of Deauville on Monday, Merkel's centre-right allies said German taxpayers who

Despite posting relatively solid performance since the economic turmoil of 2009, the slow recovery of domestic demand continues to limit the growth prospects of the Russian steel industry, Moody's Investors Service said in a new Special Comment. Following on from the global downturn, Russian steel producers have continued to recover to show stronger signs of

The Group of 20 should share a common view on the need to restrain rapid and extreme currency moves, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama said on Wednesday, days ahead of a G20 finance ministers' meeting. Strains over exchange rates are expected to dominate a meeting of G20 finance ministers in South Korea starting

The world's richest man weighed into the argument between China and the United States over currencies, saying the dispute could be resolved if China raises wages for workers. Rather than drive each other's currencies lower, China should give people more wealth to improve their lives, Mexico billionaire Carlos Slim said late on Tuesday. "Then China