Stars swing into action to help out

Chinese entertainment stars are opening their hearts and wallets to help victims of Sichuan's May 12 earthquake.

Teacher's blog describes happy times before disaster

The pictures showed teachers and students from senior grade 3 of Beichuan Middle School happily playing games on the school grounds.

Wenchuan Quake

Power of their mothers' love

The extraordinary efforts of mothers and fathers to save their children are unforgettable

Business International

GE to shed appliance unit: Report

General Electric Co may sell or seek a partner for the unit that makes refrigerators and washers, ending more than a century in an industry that helped make GE a household name, people familiar with the situation said.

Toyota's green gamble pays off

Toyota's Prius started out a decade ago as a risky experiment in green technology. Today, it's the world's first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid vehicle to hit the one million mark in sales.

ITV says turnaround plan well on track

ITV Plc, the United Kingdom's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, said yesterday its turnaround plan was on track and it was outperforming a tough television advertising market while increasing audience share.

Higher costs hit RWE earnings

RWE AG, Germany's second-largest utility, said first-quarter profit fell 48 percent as higher commodity costs narrowed margins on natural-gas sales and crimped earnings from trading.

IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Business International

IMF chief expects no global recovery before 2009

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not expect the global economy to recover before 2009 even though a "large part" of the financial crisis may be over, its chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said yesterday.