CHINA

Kyrgyzstan's mass anti-government protests last week were essentially the culmination of more than a decade of disillusionment and dissatisfaction that accumulated in the nation's political, economic and social spheres from the period of Akayev to his successor Kurmanbek Bakiyev, with virtually every Kyrgyz concerned about rising prices and falling standards of living, both issues of little concern and dimly understood in Washington.

Google Inc posted a 23 percent jump in quarterly revenue on a rebound in Web advertising, but its stock fell 5 percent as the company disappointed some investors accustomed to blowout results.

The Australian dollar has opened relatively unchanged from yesterday following a mixed session offshore overnight.

U.S. manufacturers were busy in April as factories ramped up production to rebuild inventories though soft labor markets still point to a relatively slow economic recovery.

Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it was investigating charges that young workers at a factory in China making its mice, cameras and Xbox controllers suffer overlong working hours and harsh treatment.

U.S. manufacturers were busy in April as factories ramped up production to rebuild inventories though soft labor markets still point to a relatively slow-paced economic recovery.

Apache Corp said it will buy oil and natural gas explorer Mariner Energy Inc for $2.7 billion, diving into the deepwater Gulf of Mexico with its second major acquisition this week.

The project, which is unrivalled in scale, went underway in 2008 and is working to catalogue the genetic profiles of cancer cells collected from 25,000 people - 500 per targeted cancers.

(Reuters) - People living in countries with government-run healthcare systems like Sweden and Canada are far more confident than Americans that their families can get good, affordable care, according to a 22-nation survey released on Thursday.

Mazda Motor Corp said on Thursday it would recall 89,822 Mazda3/Axela compact cars in Japan and China to fix a problem with the oil hose, and a further 191,503 sold elsewhere could be subject to repairs.

The world's top memory chipmaker, Samsung Electronics, said it will launch independent reviews in response to reports that toxic materials used in chip making may have caused cancer in some of its employees.

U.S. stock index futures dipped on Thursday as nagging concerns about Greece's debt woes undercut a solid quarterly earnings report and stronger forecast from economic bellwether United Parcel Service Inc.

U.S. stock index futures dipped on Thursday as nagging concerns about Greece's debt woes undercut a solid quarterly earnings report and outlook from economic bellwether United Parcel Service Inc.

China chalked up unexpectedly strong annual growth of 11.9 percent in the first quarter, prompting renewed calls for tighter policies to prevent the economy from overheating and stoking speculation of when Beijing will loosen its grip on the yuan.

China chalked up unexpectedly strong annual growth of 11.9 percent in the first quarter, prompting renewed calls for tighter policies to prevent the economy from overheating and stoking speculation on when it will loosen its tight grip on the yuan.

Toyota Motor said on Thursday it would conduct safety tests on all its sport utility models after a report claiming that a handling problem in a new version Lexus put drivers at risk of rollover accidents.

Malaysia's Petronas has stopped supplying gasoline to Iran, a company spokesman said on Thursday, as the threat of U.S. sanctions on oil firms with supply ties to the Islamic Republic looms large.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.21 percent at 5:12 a.m. EDT.

Strong growth in China and upbeat corporate earnings lifted world stocks on Thursday to a new high for the year, putting them at levels last seen around the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

AIG remains a long-term investor in China's top non-life insurer PICC , the Chinese insurer said on Thursday, even as the embattled U.S. firm unwinds its holdings in other assets to repay the U.S. government.

Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas has stopped supplying gasoline to Iran, a spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.