CHINA

China will be asked to do more to encourage the military rulers of Myanmar to engage in dialogue with the opposition, the U.N. special envoy to the troubled Southeast Asian nation said on Thursday.

China slammed the United States on Thursday for awarding the Dalai Lama one of its highest honors and summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing to complain, saying its actions had "gravely undermined" relations.

President George W. Bush defended on Wednesday his plan to appear at an award ceremony for the Dalai Lama in the face of Chinese objections and urged Beijing to open talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader China views as a separatist.

Coca-Cola Co said on Wednesday that its quarterly net profit rose a better-than-expected 13 percent, helped by strong sales of noncarbonated drinks and the weak dollar.

Taiwan's Asustek said on Tuesday it will sell its new low-cost laptop PCs to consumers for as little as T$7,999 ($245) apiece, as it takes aim at more casual users in developed markets.

Oculus has entered into a reverse takeover agreement with waste recycling and carbon credit firm Aretae in a deal worth S$600 million ($410 million), the former contact lens maker said in a statement on Tuesday.

Singapore's Best World, a health care firm focused on China, expects profit growth to take a hit this year due to higher costs from its aggressive expansion drive, a company executive told Reuters on Tuesday.

China's CITIC Bank Corp Ltd is bidding for a stake in Bear Stearns Cos, a senior Chinese regulator said, in the first official confirmation of media reports that the state-run bank was a potential suitor for the smallest of Wall Street's five big independent brokerages.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said on Tuesday he believed North Korea would stop its uranium enrichment program by the end of the year.

Thirty Chinese central Stated-owned enterprises (SOEs) are planning overall listing, the China Business today cited an insider close to the State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) as saying.

Central Europe has evolved from a collection of Soviet Communist satellite states into the most dynamic part of the capitalist European Union in less than a generation.

Shares of Asia's top oil and gas company, PetroChina Co Ltd, jumped 13 percent on Monday as news of increased production and hopes of major new discoveries spurred optimism about its performance in the fourth quarter.

Chinese President Hu Jintao offered on Monday to enter into negotiations with Taiwan to reach a peace agreement in an overture to the self-ruled island which China claims as its own.

China's biggest e-commerce firm, Alibaba.com Ltd, plans to raise as much as US$1.32 billion after setting a price range for its Hong Kong initial public offering, sources familiar with the deal said on Monday.

Asian stocks pared early gains on Monday, pausing after their recent rally, while the dollar held firm as strong U.S. retail sales data prompted investors to trim bets of further U.S. interest rate cut.

Japanese Carmakers intend to export their hybrid models to emerging countries like India and China, anticipating these countries’ growing appetite for environmentally friend models, especially among the wealthy.

The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in China meeting with safety officials, said on Friday talks are progressing toward an agreement to boost the safety of food and drug imports.

Technology stocks tumbled on Thursday as a sell-off in shares of Chinese Internet company Baidu.com fuelled concerns that the recent tech rally may be coming to an abrupt end.

Oil moved back above $83 a barrel on Friday, within sight of all-time highs, on mounting tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq.

Stocks sank on Thursday, led by a drop of more than 1 percent in the Nasdaq, as a downbeat brokerage comment on Chinese Internet company Baidu.com Inc. unnerved investors after record highs earlier in the day.

A sickly dollar and firming oil prices swept gold to 28-year highs on Thursday, while platinum was set in London at a record high of $1,407 per ounce, aided by rising bullion prices and worries over supply.