U.S. stocks jumped Friday after the Department of Labor reported solid jobs gains for April and a slight decline in the unemployment rate.

Environmental authorities have ordered a beach resort in Kenting to suspend operations and expansion after learning that it has never undergone a mandatory government assessment of its impact to the environment, officials said yesterday.

The health of Taiwan's only H7N9 bird flu patient is improving, and he has been taken off a machine that functions as an artificial lung, National Taiwan University Hospital Deputy Superintendent Chang Shang-chun said yesterday.

Immunologists expressed concern Friday about the "dangerous" work of scientists in China who created a hybrid bird flu virus that can spread in the air between guinea pigs, and now lives in a lab freezer.

A wind-driven wildfire raging along the California coast north of Los Angeles prompted the evacuation of hundreds of homes and a university campus on Thursday as flames engulfed several farm buildings and recreational vehicles near threatened neighborhoods.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time in 10 months on Thursday, promising to provide as much liquidity as eurozone banks need well into next year and to help smaller companies get access to credit.

The Cabinet approved yesterday draft amendments for a new law -- the Tourist Gambling Site Management Act -- establishing basic regulations for casinos and gambling sites on Taiwan's offshore islands.

"The government should complete the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant's construction, but not install the fuel rods," Taipei Deputy Mayor Tim Ting (丁庭宇) said yesterday.

More than 60 people were killed when a desert gold mine collapsed in an area of Sudan's Darfur where hundreds died in fighting over the precious commodity in January-February, the district chief said Thursday.

The Central Epidemic Command Center announced incentive measures Thursday to encourage vendors in traditional markets to stop slaughtering poultry as part of the government's effort to prevent the spread of H7N9 avian flu in Taiwan.

Labor unions marched in front of the Legislative Yuan yesterday -- Labor Day -- to express their dissatisfaction over labor pension reforms and other labor-related policies.

Some government officials' personal integrity will be scrutinized, according to Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), as part of his method to fight corruption.

European unemployment hit a new record on Tuesday and Moody's cut Slovenia's debt rating to junk status as German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her crisis strategy, pushing for twin goals of fiscal rigor and growth.

The U.S. private sector added only 119,000 jobs in April, the slowest job growth in seven months, according to a report by payrolls firm ADP published Wednesday.