CHINA

McDonald's Corp posted a 6 percent rise in April sales at established restaurants, helped by price increases that mitigated the impact of higher costs for beef and other ingredients.

The growth outlook in major industrialized nations is diverging with activity improving in North America, China and Russia and moderating in most European countries, the OECD's leading indicator for March showed on Monday.

The Apple iPad 2 frenzy in China took a violent turn when a scuffle broke out between a customer and an Apple Store employee, leaving four people injured.

Chinese banks must restrict shadowing activities and bring off-balance-sheet trust loans back onto their books to help ward off possible risk, the country's top banking regulator said on Monday.

Rovio, the developer of the Angry Birds mobile game eyes an initial public offering in three to four years, its chief marketing officer was quoting as saying in a Finnish business daily on Monday.

A hurricane struck the Foshan City in Guangdong Province in southern China for the second time in a month on Friday, killing 4 people and injuring 17 others.

After all the angst over pricey oil and the threat it posed to the global economy, it is hard to see the recent slide as anything but a welcome reprieve.

A Chinese man says he saw a fight between an Apple store employee and a customer amid a frenzy to buy the newly launched iPad 2.

Four person were injured in scuffles that broke out at a Beijing Apple store after the iPad 2 went on sale on Friday in the country.

Most people know Jon Huntsman, Jr. as a possible Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential race and the former ambassador to China.

The U.S. federal government has prosecuted nearly 60 individuals since 2008 related to the transfer of U.S.-based information to China, according to report.

Apple iPad 2 mania gripped China as customers and scalpers formed serpentine queues outside at Apple's four stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker warned on Friday that trillion-dollar deficits posed a threat to the stability of the U.S. economy and the dollar, and said he is frustrated by the gridlock in Washington.

Oil fell on Friday to cap a frenzied trading week that sliced prices by a record of more than $16 a barrel on demand worries and a move by investors to slash commodities exposures.

Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn wants to begin assembling iPads in Brazil by July, but it is still seeking tax breaks and other government concessions as part of an investment plan that could be worth up to $12 billion, Brazilian media reported on Friday.

On international trade, Vladimir Putin seems to be channeling the autocratic spirit of Catherine the Great. He wants Russia to modernize by joining the World Trade Organization -- but not too much.

Fast buildout of mobile networks in the United States lifted Alcatel-Lucent's first quarter sales as the CEO pledged to deliver on a long-promised turnaround of the struggling telecom gear maker.

China, wielding its huge dollar holdings, on Friday pressed Washington to tackle its huge fiscal deficit and said it would raise the issue of discrimination against Chinese investors at high-level talks next week.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Immersion, Sapient, Novatel Wireless, Orthovita, Marchex, Limelight Networks, Rubicon Technology, Mercer International, Hansen Natural, and XOMA.

Brent crude dipped toward $107 a barrel on Friday and U.S. crude fell below $97, extending losses from a record rout in the previous session that wiped as much as 10 percent from the price.

Telecom gear maker Alcatel-Lucent stuck to its annual targets after posting in-line sales in the first quarter, helped by booming demand in North America and strong sales of wireless equipment.