According to The World Bank's latest quarterly report, China will again enjoy robust growth this year. But Beijing will need to adopt tighter monetary policies if it is to keep inflation in check and prevent unsustainable prices in the booming real estate sector.

Officials from eight Asia-Pacific nations have begun talks being billed as laying the groundwork for what could become the largest free trade area ever seen. The talks seek to add the United States, Australia, Peru and Vietnam to the Trans Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement that groups Chile, Singapore, New Zealand and Brunei. The eight countries are home to 470 million people and account for a combined gross domestic product more than $16 trillion dollars.

U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles declined nearly 9 percent in February, the first full month since the Japanese automaker suspended sales and recalled 8.5 million cars for accelerator problems.

Icelandic voters overwhelmingly rejected a $5.3-billion deal to repay debts to Britain and the Netherlands for their losses in the 2008 collapse of Iceland's private online bank, Icesave.

Two strong earthquakes shook Chile Thursday as Sebastian Pinera prepared to take office as the country's new president. The U.S. Geological Survey measured a 7.2 magnitude quake in Chile's Libertador O'Higgins region, about 124 kilometers from the capital Santiago. It followed a magnitude 5.1 quake centered in the Arucania, Chile region, about 555 kilometers south of the capital.

Tibetan activists are holding rallies Wednesday marking the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. Rights groups planned to demonstrate outside the United Nations in New York, and at the Chinese embassies in Washington, London, Italy, Sweden and Paris.

The Dalai Lama delivers his annual address from exile in India, marking the 51st anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in Dharamsla, India, 10 Mar 2010. Tibet's exiled spiritual leader is expressing frustration in his latest assessment of the situation in his homeland.

European Parliament refused to give its consent to the EU's interim agreement on banking data transfers to the USA via the SWIFT network, amid concerns for privacy, proportionality and reciprocity. This move renders the text signed between the US and the 27 EU Member states legally void. MEPs propose to negotiate a new agreement.

Malaria, a disease that kills more than 1 million people each year, is transmitted by the bite of the Anopheles mosquito. The insects follow their victims’ scent via odor receptors found on the mosquito’s antennae and mouth parts. But the molecular basis of this process has been poorly understood.

People with a mild form of a common lung condition, even those without symptoms, are at increased risk for heart problems, according to a new study. This is the first report that mild, often-symptomless chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be linked to the heart's pumping ability.

Memories grow stronger when people take a break to rest, according to a new study. The finding may have important implications for how students study and how people can best learn new things.

Computational Model Can Be Used to Identify Regulatory Elements for Other Organs, Tissues Scientists have devised a new computational model that can be used to reveal genetic regulatory elements responsible for development of the human heart and maintenance of its function.

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder that afflicts 6 million American adults. It's characterized by unexpected, repeated episodes of intense fear. These can be accompanied by physical symptoms including chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness or abdominal distress. Panic disorder is also a risk factor for suicidal behavior.

Our memory reflects our last retrieval of it rather than an exact account of the original event. When long-term memories are recalled, they become fragile and changeable. New proteins must be produced to reconsolidate retrieved memories and return them to long-term storage in the brain.

Scientists investigating how prion diseases destroy the brain have observed a new form of the disease in mice that does not cause the sponge-like brain deterioration typically seen in prion diseases. Instead, it resembles a form of human Alzheimer's disease, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, that damages brain arteries.

Geologists have found evidence that sea ice extended to the equator 716.5 million years ago, bringing new precision to a "snowball Earth" event long suspected to have taken place around that time.

You may not realize it, but the cells in your body act like billions of tiny computers, each using a complex system of genes, proteins, enzymes and other tools working together like a piece of software to receive, process and send information. When something goes haywire in those cells' processing systems, serious illnesses can result, including cancer.

Adding a new link to our understanding of the complex chain of chemistry that keeps living cells alive, a team of researchers from the University of Vermont, the University of Utah, Vanderbilt University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology has demonstrated for the first time the specific activity of the protein NEIL3, one of a group responsible for maintaining the integrity of DNA in humans and other mammals.

2009 was tied for the second warmest year in the modern record, a new analysis of global surface temperature shows. The analysis also shows that in the Southern Hemisphere, 2009 was the warmest year since modern records began in 1880.

Researchers have developed a robot capable of scaling vertical walls. The new robot, whose foot pads are covered with the same type of adhesive found on the feet of geckos, was named "stickybot" by its inventors.

New research is turning the science-fiction scenario of controlling machines with our minds into a reality. Recent results from a joint project between the Mayo Clinic and the University of North Florida show that it is possible to "type" letters on a computer screen with nothing more than a thought and a brain-computer interface.

If hydrogen is ever to play a significant role as a clean, everyday energy source, it will need a safe and reliable distribution system.

Diamonds are renowned for their seemingly flawless physical beauty and their interplay with light. Now researchers are taking advantage of the mineral's imperfections to control that light at the atomic scale, generating one photon at a time.