CHINA

Apple issued a press release on Monday announcing that the Fair Labor Association has begun investigating Foxconn's upon Apple's request. It was a necessary move, but it would never have happened without CEO Tim Cook at the helm.

Gold prices climbed on Monday as news that Greece's parliament had approved an austerity bill needed to release a second round of bailout funds lifted the euro, while platinum rose back towards a three-month high as supply issues flared up.

Apple, under attack for poor labor practices at its Asian contract manufacturers, said it had asked the Fair Labor Association to inspect them.

Syria said it has categorically rejected a new resolution from the Arab League which calls for the formation of a joint Arab-United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country to help bring an end to the bloodshed that has lasted almost one year.

The international economic outlook is showing tentative signs of improvement, with the momentum shift spreading from the United States and Japan to other developed countries, the OECD's December survey of growth prospects showed on Monday.

The long-simmering tension is reaching the boiling point as angry and frustrated Tibetans are preparing to observe their New Year on Feb.22. Monks and nuns are killing themselves in protest across Tibet in alarming frequency even as the government security forces flood the streets around monasteries and nunneries and local people are intimidated with the use of lethal force.

China Investment Corp remains wary about investing in European government bonds despite a plea from Germany's chancellor, but will look for opportunities in infrastructure and real industrial projects, the head of the country's $410 billion sovereign wealth fund said on Monday.

Syrian forces resumed their bombardment of the city of Homs on Monday after Arab countries called for U.N. peacekeepers and pledged their firm support for the opposition battling President Bashar al-Assad.

Henrique Capriles Radonski, Governor of Miranda state, has won the opposition nomination to fight the incumbent socialist President Hugo Chávez in the October presidential elections in Venezuela. Capriles, 39, has swept the opposition primaries, defeating four of his opponents with huge margins. His one-sided victory in the primaries is seen as a warning sign to President Chavez who is looking forward to winning a third six-year term as Venezuelan President.

European government bonds are not ideal for long-term investors such as China Investment Corporation , the head of China's $410 billion sovereign wealth fund said on Monday.

With the rising economy of China ensuring its steady march toward superpower position, the country has rolled out special programs to attract foreign elites which could make it the land of opportunities for skilled immigrants rivaling the U.S.

The European Union will not bow to pressure to suspend a controversial scheme to charge airlines for their carbon emissions, but is willing to be flexible in finding a solution to a row that threatens to escalate into a full-blown trade war.

Federal prosecutors have presented evidence to a grand jury against U.S. executives of cosmetics company Avon Products , in a case that probes whether those executives broke foreign bribery laws, the Wall Street Journal said.

Japan's Mitsubishi Corp <8058.T> cleared the last hurdle on Monday to take control of iron ore, port and rail projects in Western Australia which are slated to cost $10 billion and which it hopes to fund with Chinese partners.

Microsoft's online store in India was hacked by a Chinese hacker group called EvilShadow team - 7z1&Ancker Monday morning.

China has no intention of buying up or controlling a debt-ridden Europe that it still has confidence in, and any help Beijing may offer will be for purely economic reasons, a top state-run newspaper said on Monday ahead of a China-EU summit.

China's stocks rose for a fourth day even as Premier Wen Jiabao has called on the need to fine tune economic policies, which has resulted in expectation of easing monetary policy though a decision was announced to suspend the easing of property restrictions in the third-tier city of Wuhu, in eastern Anhui province.

Three years after China launched its most ambitious experiment yet to give its currency more global clout, some market watchers are writing its epitaph, saying Beijing is not loosening its grip on the yuan fast enough to attract sustained interest.

Gold strengthened Monday in line with gains in shares and the euro after Greece's parliament finally approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second bailout from the European Union and the IMF to avoid bankruptcy.

China will start to fine-tune its economic policies in the first quarter, Premier Wen Jiabao said in remarks published by state media Monday, the most explicit indication yet of further monetary policy easing.

China will start to fine-tune its economic policies in the first quarter, Premier Wen Jiabao said in remarks published by state media Monday, the most explicit indication yet of further monetary policy easing.