Asian markets fell sharply Monday, on fears a recession in the United States will weaken the demand for Asian exports.

Construction will hopefully start this year on two railways linking China's westernmost Xinjiang with the central Asian nations of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, sources with the regional government of Xinjiang said.

Most Asian markets made strong gains Wednesday, while share prices surged higher in European trading. The sharply rising stock values follow a dramatic late rally in U.S. markets on Wednesday.

Indian officials are struggling to contain a serious outbreak of bird flu that has spread across nearly half of the eastern state of West Bengal.

World oil prices traded higher in Asia on Monday after US President George W Bush called for a multibillion-dollar stimulus plan to help kick-start his nation's flagging economy.

Sybase 365, a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), the global leader in mobile messaging interoperability and mobile content delivery, today announced that it has been selected by four leading operators in North Asia to provide International SMS connectivity, broadening their reach to the world.

As part of the company's continuing worldwide expansion and growth, Network Appliance, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) today announced its strengthened commitment to the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with the inauguration of a new Technical Support Center (TSC) in Dalian, China, and by opening new manufacturing and logistics centers in Shanghai and Singapore, respectively.

Unofficial diplomatic discussions can play a significant role in shaping attitudes in the Middle East and Asia, but are best used as a long-term strategy without expectations for dramatic policy shifts, according to a report issued by the RAND Corporation.

Intel today broke ground on its first 300mm wafer fabrication facility in Asia. The new factory, named Fab 68, will extend Intel's manufacturing leadership, while helping cultivate engineering talent, accelerate the growth of China's information technology (IT) ecosystem, and bring Intel's culture of environmental leadership to China.

“On [07-07-07], the New Open World Foundation announced the completion of a world poll to name the ‘new Seven Wonders of the World’…To see them all would mean traveling to Jordan, Peru, India, Mexico, China, Brazil, and Italy. A tour of ‘finalists’ would span the United States, Mali, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Australia, Egypt, Germany, Russia, Japan, Turkey, France, Chile and Cambodia …That would indeed be a wonderful journey.” – Philadelphia Inquirer

“On [07-07-07], the New Open World Foundation announced the completion of a world poll to name the ‘new Seven Wonders of the World’…To see them all would mean traveling to Jordan, Peru, India, Mexico, China, Brazil, and Italy. A tour of ‘finalists’ would span the United States, Mali, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Australia, Egypt, Germany, Russia, Japan, Turkey, France, Chile and Cambodia …That would indeed be a wonderful journey.” – Philadelphia Inquirer

India this month celebrates 60 years of independence, and many have paid tribute to a growing economy that has begun to make a mark around the world. But as Anjana Pasricha reports, others expressed concern about the need to spread the benefits of the economic boom to millions of people still mired in poverty.