Asia

An industry forecast that nearly half a million new airline pilots will be needed worldwide over the next 20 years as airlines expand their fleets has raised safety concerns that airlines will hire lower caliber pilots as they struggle to fill slots....

* Dollar index firmer, but down from near 3-year high * MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan slips 0.2 percent By Masayuki Kitano SINGAPORE, May 21 (Reuters) - "Will he or won't he?" is the question investors want answered at Wednesday's Congressional...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged the president of Myanmar on Monday to halt violence against a Muslim minority but praised economic and political reforms in the formerly pariah nation that is emerging as a U.S. ally in China's backyard....

* To pay less than $5 mln on closure of the deal - sources * Will buy 70 pct of MS India wealth management book - sources * Wealth managers in Asia struggle to turn a profit * Weak markets squeeze revenue, product offerings restricted By Sumeet...

(Reuters) - Standard Chartered has agreed to buy the Indian wealth management unit of Morgan Stanley, helping the British bank expand its private banking business in Asia's third-largest economy. The sale underscores growing consolidation of Asia's...

NEW DELHI – The Indian and Chinese premiers papered over their differences at a meeting in New Delhi on Monday, pledging to tackle a border dispute that has soured relations for decades and to work together for global stability. The meeting was...

Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, said Monday that demand for its machines continued to show weakness last month, led by a continued decline in Asia and a steeper fall in North America. The Peoria, Illinois-...

(Repeats May 19 story with no changes to text) * Myanmar president in first visit to Washington * Concern about rights abuses in ethnic conflict * Washington wants to foster ally on China's border By Paul Eckert WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) -...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - There is a new gold rush in the Asia-Pacific: rising incomes and consumer spending by Asia's fast-growing middle classes that is generating unprecedented opportunities for multinational firms. If western firms recognize those...

HONG KONG (Reuters) - In a 2010 speech before a packed ballroom of university students in Sydney, Shi Zhengrong, founder of Chinese solar-panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, listed the people who had been important in his rise to fame and riches....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will walk a fine line between fostering a U.S. ally in China's backyard and trying to defend human rights when the president of Myanmar becomes the first head of his country to visit the White House in 47...