CHINA

Oil fell from the highest level in three weeks ending a whole week of upward trend even as fears over a worsening eurozone debt crisis and its potentially disastrous impact on global commodity demand were contradicted by signs and figures of a quicker recovery from the U.S.

Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba plans to take private its Hong Kong-listed unit, two sources familiar with the matter said, as part of a complex deal that would strengthen founder Jack Ma's control and give key stakeholder Yahoo cash and a direct stake in one of Alibaba's operating businesses.

Stocks and the euro fell while safe-haven government bonds rose on Friday as final approval of a long-awaited Greek debt deal remained elusive, keeping alive the threat of a messy default.

Trying to track China's economic course during the Lunar New Year can leave analysts howling at the moon. January auto sales tumbled, yet oil imports were the third highest on record. A measure of factory activity picked up, but trade data was weak.

The euro and Asian shares pulled back Friday as investors remained concerned about prospects of restructuring Greece's debt and global lenders demanded more steps even after it struck a long-awaited deal on fiscal reforms.

Tanks amassed outside opposition neighborhoods in Homs Friday as Alawite-led forces bombarded the Syrian city for the fifth day and residents expected a major push to subdue the center of revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday named former 2012 Republican presidential candidate and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to its board of directors. The appointment gives Huntsman another job as he backs out of the public spotlight back into the private sector. And it gives Ford another established, high-profile board member with political ties.

A 19-year-old Tibetan man set himself on fire Wednesday in western China to protest government control over Tibetan-populated regions, and was taken away by authorities in an unknown condition.

A Chinese father has sparked a blacklash of outrage after forcing his nearly naked 4-year-old son to race around in the New York snow even while the boy pleads for him to stop, according to the New York Post. The video which has been made available online shows the little boy running around in the snow in nothing but a pair of shoes and yellow underwear. The child begs his father, 44-year-old He Liesheng, to pick him up but dad just keeps pushing him to run even more.

Lin's rags to riches rise is perfect for the city that has spawned more tales of overcoming the odds than anywhere else.

The next supercontinent, Amasia, may still be a few hundred million years away, but there have been three others in the past that can give an approximation of what it might look like.

The mystery over the disappearance of the top Chinese police officer, Wang Lijun, continues to deepen as details emerge about the missing cop.

The United States has threatened action that could disrupt a French-led satellite maker's supply chain, spurred by suspicion that it illegally used U.S. know-how or parts in spacecraft launched by Chinese rockets.

Now that the all new Apple iPad 3 has a set release date of early March, the question now is will it be ethically produced by Chinese factory workers at places like Foxconn. Reports of poor working conditions in Chinese factories that make the $500 or more iPad, have forced Apple to confront the possibility it may have to intervene or at least make an effort to investigate the charges.

Russia faced a barrage of condemnations after it joined China over the weekend in vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step aside, but Russia has stood resolutely behind its decision. Why?

India is highly dependent on Persian oil and may not heed demands from the west that it buy its crude elsewhere.

Get ready for iPad 3 - according to a report by AllThingsD, Apple may launch the next-generation iPad at the event which will be held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, where on March 2, last year, iPad 2 was unveiled.

The United States has threatened action that could disrupt a French-led satellite maker's supply chain, spurred by suspicion that it illegally used U.S. know-how or parts in spacecraft launched by Chinese rockets.

The moves puts the focus on Mark Fields, 50, who runs Ford's operations in North and South America, and Joe Hinrichs, 45, who runs the automaker's operations in Asia, as the leading internal candidates to succeed Mulally.

India and Iran share close historical links, or so argued India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Now economic interests are pulling the two countries closer again. India has struck a clever deal to pay for Iranian oil in its own not freely convertible currency, the rupee. It could be a diplomatic hot potato.

Singapore enjoys close relations with both the U.S. and China.