CHINA

The next chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will likely be one of two candidates, France Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (who has officially announced her interest in the job) and Mexico’s central bank governor Agustin Carstens, who is also lobbying for the sought-after position.

Dollar Gold Prices hit a three-week high of $1528 per ounce on Wednesday morning in London, while commodities - like global stock markets - failed to add much to the gains they made Tuesday after Goldman Sachs issued a bullish note on natural resources.

The Supreme People's Court - the highest court in Mainland China - has ordered lower courts to suspend death sentences for two years, but only in cases that does not call for immediate execution.”

Japan's economy is already showing signs of recovering from a slump that followed a devastating earthquake in March, Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Wednesday while stressing that the central bank would remain vigilant about economic risks.

Buoyant commodities demand from emerging economies is straining tight supplies and putting more pressure on producers to ramp up output, Glencore's chief executive said on Wednesday.

ZTE Corp, China's No.2 network equipment maker, plans to launch smartphones based on Microsoft Corp's Mango operating system in Europe in the third quarter of this year, executives said.

Three nuclear reactors at a Japanese nuclear plant suffered meltdowns within days, the plant’s operator told Reuters on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that former employees of Avon Products Inc bribed foreign officials, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Federal Reserve should begin raising U.S. interest rates and the European Central Bank should pause its monetary tightening cycle, the OECD said on Wednesday.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Velti, China-Biotics, Oncothyreon, Synovis Life Technologies, and Inter Parfums. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Park Sterling Bank, Charming Shoppes, Books-A-Million, CoStar Group, Exterran Partners, and Compuware.

China asked Foxconn Technology Group and other Taiwanese firms to pay more attention to safety, after a deadly blast at a Chinese factory making iPads for Apple.

In a budge to deepen its economic ties with Africa, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is on a six days long visit to Africa from Monday. India, trying to emerge from the shadow of rival China by is offering $5 billion to help the continent rich with minerals and commodities, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Top emerging economies joined forces to slam Europe's obsolete grip on the IMF's top job, even as France's finance minister appeared to strengthen her lead in the race to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Monday that stripping energy and food costs from inflation measurements may understate inflation. Ignoring energy prices in a price index may systematically understate inflation for many years, he added.

After Dominique Strauss-Kahn's resignation from IMF, French finance minister Christine Lagarde has emerged as the leading candidate for IMF chief, receiving the support of European nations. On the other hand, countries such as China, India and Mexico are calling for an IMF chief from among an emerging economy.

A deadly explosion at a Chinese factory making iPads for Apple has focused attention on lax industrial safety standards that continue to plague many Chinese workers, while raising supply chain risks in the high-end electronics sector.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Sify Technologies, China Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology, GT Solar International, United Community Banks, Pharmasset, Perfect World, and TiVo. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Identive Group, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and Research In Motion.

North Korea's secretive leader Kim Jong-il toured east China on Monday, while the U.S. government team flew to North Korea to assess food shortages.

Shares of Apple Inc reorganized on Monday after Wall Street brushed off the shock of the explosion last week that shut down a Foxconn factory in China producing its popular iPad

Two top executives have quit Wal-Mart Stores Inc's China business, leaving a leadership vacuum in country earmarked as having strategic importance for the U.S. retailer.

Caris & Co. said it is impressed with the investor screening of Kung Fu Panda 2 on Saturday afternoon at DreamWorks Animation (NASDAQ: DWA) headquarters in Glendale, California.