CHINA

China is scouring the world for alternative oil supplies to replace a fall in its imports from Iran, as it seeks to negotiate lower prices from Tehran, and has been drawing heavily on Saudi Arabia.

A new guessing game is about to begin: will China's incoming generation of leaders show more courage than the current incumbents in tackling deep economic imbalances that threaten to bring growth to a sudden stop?

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad promised to stop the bloodshed that has engulfed his country for the past 11 months. Assad reached an agreement with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in Damascus on Tuesday.

Gold prices rose 1 percent on Tuesday as expectations that a Greek rescue deal will be completed drove the dollar down sharplyagainst the euro.

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP), the world's largest snack-food maker, is projected to report stronger fourth-quarter profit as PepsiCo continue to capitalize on emerging market growth and proper hedging against commodity price swings.

The member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) recalled their Syrian ambassadors on Tuesday after violence against protestors in the country escalated yet again.

France is gradually losing its vitality and presence in global export markets.

Apple has been sued by Proview Technology for allegedly infringing upon their trademarked iPad name, and the Hong Kong-based company stands to win $1.6 billion and an apology from the world's biggest tablet maker.

The 29 Chinese workers captured in Sudan last month were released on Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund and Vice President Joe Biden have both raised doubts about China's economic growth, although for different reasons.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), the giant beverage maker, said on Tuesday that net income fell 71 percent in the fourth quarter on substantial restructuring charges, but increased beverage sales beat Wall Street expectations, and it announced a cost cutting plan to pay for rising commodity costs and bolster its brands.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Damascus for talks with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday.

After coming off the bench to score 25 points in last weekend's game, setting a personal record and leading the New York Knicks to a victory against the New Jersey Nets, hopes were high that Jeremy Lin would help the Knicks defeat the Utah Jazz in Thursday night's game. Lin delivered.

Iranian buyers have defaulted on payments for about 200,000 tonnes of rice from their top supplier India, exporters and rice millers said on Tuesday, a sign of the mounting pressure on Tehran from a new wave of Western sanctions.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc has named an industry veteran, but a relative newcomer to China, to run what is a strategically crucial business for the world's biggest retailer as it faces tougher competition in the fastest growing major economy.

As recently as last November, deep into the Syrian crisis, Brazil specifically rejected any foreign intervention in Syria.

IBM's 900,000 square-foot Bangalore computer center is Asia's largest to date.

At least two top 10 shareholders in miner Xstrata said Tuesday they would vote against a takeover by commodities trader Glencore, threatening the creation of a powerhouse spanning mining, shareholders except Glencore, which is barred agriculture and trading.

Glencore, which currently holds 34 percent of Xstrata stakes, offered 2.8 new shares for each Xstrata share in an agreed all-share merger of equals.

India's economy is expected to grow at 6.9 percent in the current financial year, its slowest pace in three years, according to the official data released by the government.

Commodities trader Glencore agreed an all-share takeover of mining group Xstrata worth $90 billion on Tuesday in the industry's largest ever deal, creating a powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading.