BANGKOK (AP) — The price of oil fell below $93 per barrel Thursday after a survey showed manufacturing activity in China falling to its lowest level in seven months, a sign that the recovery in the world's No. 2 economy is fading.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's economy is expected to grow by about 6 percent in 2013, up from a growth rate of 4.6 percent last year, driven by growth in sectors like agriculture, the planning minister said on Thursday. Optimism around the growth prospects for east Africa's biggest economy has risen after the country held a peaceful presidential poll in March, in contrast with the violence-riddled election of five years ago.

By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - China's plan to spend $6.5 trillion on urbanization to bolster the economy is running into snags, sources close to the government said, as top leaders fear another spending binge could push up local debt levels and inflate a property bubble. Premier Li Keqiang has rejected an urbanization proposal drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), seeking changes to put more emphasis on economic reform, according to the sources, who are familiar with the matter. ...

DENVER (AP) — Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper's decision to block the execution of convicted killer Nathan Dunlap for as long as he is governor infuriated victims' relatives and drew quick criticism from Republicans ahead of the 2014 election.

BANGKOK (AP) — The price of oil fell below $94 per barrel Thursday after a private survey showed manufacturing activity in China falling to its lowest level in seven months, a sign that the recovery in the world's No. 2 economy is fading.

Nine-year-old Sydney loved softball, while eight-year-old Kyle loved soccer.

By Aileen Wang and Koh Gui Qing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May as new orders fell, a preliminary manufacturing survey showed, entrenching fears that its economic recovery has stalled and that a sharper cooldown may be imminent. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May fell to 49.6, slipping under the 50-point level demarcating expansion from contraction for the first since October and sending Asian financial markets sharply lower. The final HSBC PMI stood at 50.4 in April. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is recovering, the White House is dealing with multiple controversies, and President Barack Obama appears generally unaffected either way.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An eastern Ohio grand jury examining whether other laws were broken in the case of a 16-year-old girl raped by two high school football players prepared to resume work Thursday after a three-week break.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African investment bank and asset manager Investec reported an 18 percent rise in full-year profit on Thursday, boosted by strong income from fees and commissions. Investec, which is also listed in London, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 30 pence in the year to end-March, compared with 25.4 pence a year earlier. Headline EPS, the main measure of profit in South Africa, excludes certain one-time items. Fee and commissions rose 10 percent to 972. ...

BOSTON (Reuters) - The average 401(k) retirement balance for U.S. workers hit a record high of $80,900 in the first quarter, a growth spurt of 75 percent since the stock market's nadir in March 2009, Fidelity Investments said on Thursday based on a survey of its accounts. Most of the recovery is linked to a stock market rally that has lifted the broad S&P 500 Index 145 percent since the close of trading on March 9, 2009. The 401(k) recovery looks even better for workers 55 and older, according to Boston-based Fidelity, the largest U.S. administrator of 401(k) retirement plans. ...

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan lender I&M plans to list shares on the stock market by next month after it completed a merger with small investment company City Trust, I&M said on Wednesday. I&M and City Trust combined through a share swap and the new company, named I&M Holdings Limited, holds the assets of both banks. "The transaction ... provides us with the platform to raise additional capital in the future to facilitate the achievement of our long-term growth and expansion strategy," Arun Mathur, I&M Bank's chief executive, said in a statement. ...

By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran is pressing ahead with the construction of a research reactor that Western experts say could eventually produce plutonium for a nuclear weapon if Tehran decides to make one, a U.N. report showed on Wednesday. In another development likely to worry the United States and its allies, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had added to its capacity to refine uranium, which can also provide the fissile core of a bomb if enriched to a high level. The IAEA also said Iran had asphalted a part of a military site, Parchin, that the U.N. ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd will recall about 841,000 vehicles worldwide including the Micra compact car, also known as the March, as a result of a steering wheel glitch, Japan's No.2 automaker said on Thursday. Nissan is recalling certain models of the Micra compact car produced in Britain and Japan between 2002 and 2006, as well as the Cube, produced in Japan around the same period. It is pulling back vehicles in Japan, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. ...

An 80-year-old man became the oldest person to conquer the 29,035-foot peak.

A probe blames "extremely" poor quality construction materials for the tragic collapse.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Shares in Chinese personal computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd jumped more than 4 percent after it reported a forecast-beating 90 percent rise in quarterly profit, its fastest in seven quarters. The stock rose as much as 4.3 percent in afternoon trade to HK$7.49 after it posted net profit of $126.9 million in the quarter ended in March, up from $66.8 million a year earlier, based on Reuters calculations using full-year and nine-month financial data. (Reporting By Christina Lo and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets slid Thursday, pulled down by a contraction in China's manufacturing that adds to signs that the shaky recovery in the world's No. 2 economy is slowing.

BEIJING (AP) — A survey shows China's manufacturing contracted this month, adding to signs a fragile recovery in the world's No. 2 economy is slowing.

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's record-low teen birth rate stems from robust declines in nearly every state, but most dramatically in several Mountain States and among Hispanics, according to a new government report.

Census estimates show most large U.S. cities further enhanced their allure last year.

The president will use a Thursday speech to try to shift focus from a series of scandals.

By Rob Taylor and Lincoln Feast CANBERRA (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co will shut its two Australian auto plants in October 2016, blaming a strong currency and costs that are hitting manufacturers just as the country looks for other sectors of its economy to cushion the end of a mining boom. Ford Australia will close its engine plant in Geelong and its vehicle assembly plant in Broadmeadows, both in Victoria state, with the loss of 1,200 jobs, Ford Australia Chief Executive Bob Graziano said on Thursday, the latest election-year blow to the struggling Labor government. ...

By Barbara Liston and Mark Hosenball ORLANDO, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chechen immigrant who was being questioned about his possible links to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was shot and killed by a federal agent in Florida on Wednesday after he suddenly turned violent, the FBI said. A friend of the dead man identified him to Reuters as 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, who had previously lived in Boston and knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers suspected of planting two bombs at the marathon on April 15, killing three people and injuring 264. ...

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets fell Thursday, weighed down by a contraction in China's manufacturing that adds to signs a shaky recovery in the world's No. 2 economy is slowing.

Zach Sobiech's "Clouds" became a YouTube sensation with more than 4 million views.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen since 2009. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama in which he plans to pledge more transparency to Congress in his counterterrorism policy.

A report shows responders didn't adequately train for the situation.

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Wednesday with the S&P 500 posting its biggest decline in three weeks, after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting showed some officials were open to tapering large-scale asset purchases as early as at the June meeting. Trading was volatile - the Dow and the S&P indexes both rose more than 1 percent during the morning, but fell more than 1 percent in the afternoon. ...

The horrific daylight attack that left one person dead could have been worse.

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles Councilman Eric Garcetti declared victory Wednesday in his bid to become the next mayor and vowed to put the city's economic slump "in the rear-view mirror," capping a race shaped by dire fiscal forecasts and questions about the political clout of organized labor. Garcetti crossed the finish line of his two-year campaign to lead America's second-largest city with 54 percent of the votes cast in Tuesday's election, defeating City Controller Wendy Greuel, who garnered 46 percent. ...

By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank has proposed a $150 million loan for Jordan to help it with the cost of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria, Jordanian and World Bank board sources said on Wednesday. "The (World Bank) board should act on it in June," one source told Reuters. "Pressure on Jordan is increasing and the loan should help ease the economic burden." Close to 500,000 Syrian refugees, out of a total of 1. ...

By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co raised its 2013 earnings outlook after quarterly results beat low expectations, as CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround plan helped offset shrinking personal computer sales with enterprise computing services. While fiscal second-quarter profit plummeted 32 percent, Wall Street had braced for worse. HP shares gained 14 percent after the company projected full-year earnings per share of $3.50 to $3.60, raising the lower end by 10 cents, and fiscal third-quarter profit that topped analyst estimates. ...

It promises full refunds for trips that are canceled due to mechanical failure.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is torn over when to slow its aggressive efforts to stimulate the economy.

Stock indexes fell on Wall Street on fear the Federal Reserve could pull back from its stimulus programs soon. After surging early in the day, stocks fell as investors digested minutes of a Fed meeting ...

By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the economy recover but the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas pedal, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday. A decision to scale back the $85 billion in bonds the Fed is buying each month could come at one of the central bank's "next few meetings" if the economy looked set to maintain momentum, Bernanke told Congress. But minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting released on Wednesday showed the bar was still relatively high. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hewlett-Packard's slump is deepening as the world's largest personal computer maker scrambles to meet the growing demand for more versatile and less expensive mobile devices.

Even teens who once craved iPhones are turning on the company.

By William Schomberg and David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government should spend more now to fund investment and steer its economy back to recovery, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, a call unlikely to be heeded by Chancellor George Osborne. Economic data earlier on Wednesday highlighted the challenge facing Osborne. Retail sales slumped last month while a measure of public borrowing jumped to a record high. ...