CHINA

South Korea said on Wednesday it had approved a plan by Samsung Electronics Co to build a flash memory chip plant in China seen costing some $4 billion, as a boom in smartphones and tablet computers fuels the chip industry's growth.

Oil prices rose more than 4 percent on Tuesday as geopolitical tension between Iran and the West reinforced fears about potential supply disruptions, while strong Chinese and U.S. economic data fueled optimism about global demand to start 2012 trading.

Hoping for something better than 2011's flat stock market, U.S. investors pushed shares higher on Tuesday to begin the new year, though questions remain about whether a rally can be sustained.

Wall Street stocks kicked off 2012 with a rally on Tuesday after construction and factory data signaled the U.S. economic recovery was gaining steam.

After closing the book on a wild and nerve-wracking year, investors greeted the first trading day of the year with a wide rally Tuesday -- bidding up equities, commodities and other risky assets across the board.

A Chinese court is allowing a $78 million lawsuit brought against ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to move forward, after having dismissed a similar lawsuit in 2011, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday. The action is being brought by local aquaculture farmers who believe their sea cucumbers were killed by the oil spill.

Wall Street stocks kicked off 2012 with a rally on Tuesday after data showed U.S. manufacturing activity and construction spending picked up, signaling the economic recovery was gaining steam.

European stocks rose to their highest close in five months on Tuesday after strong manufacturing data from the world's two biggest economies, the United States and China, boosted investor confidence and helped shift attention away from the Eurozone.

Wall Street stocks kicked off 2012 with a sharp rally on Tuesday after data showed U.S. manufacturing activity and construction spending picked up, signaling the economic recovery was gaining steam.

French oil giant Total has acquired a $2.32 billion stake in Chesapeake Energy Corporation's Utica shale region in Ohio, a move that signifies an increasing shift toward new energy sources as crude oil prices continue to rise.

Wall Street stocks kicked off 2012 with a sharp rally on Tuesday after data showed U.S. manufacturing activity and construction spending picked up, signaling the economic recovery was gaining steam.

Now even the East is experiencing a buoyant economic rebirth.

Wall Street stocks were set for a sharply higher open on Tuesday as upbeat Chinese and German data boosted optimism about the global economy after the S&P 500 index ended flat in 2011.

French champagne sales managed to weather the economic crisis in 2011, expecting to show 3.5 percent growth thanks to exports to the United States and emerging countries, but a slowdown is in sight, the champagne trade association said on Monday.

From farmers who swapped fields for cash to 20-something CEOs that inherited the family business, hot new money is flooding India's luxury car market as roaring sportscar engines announce the country's growing wealth on its roads.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday, with risk appetite improving at the start of the new year and as sentiment was boosted by a rally in European stocks and positive Chinese economic data. Japan's market re-opens on Wednesday.

Stock index futures rose on Tuesday as investors returned to the market optimistic about the global economy after Wall Street ended flat in 2011.

ICE February Brent crude futures rose $2.97 to $110.35 a barrel in trading, while U.S. crude futures were up $2.70 to $101.53 a barrel. U.S. crude futures were up as much as $101.68 in the trading day.

Paris-based Louvre Museum has reinstated its position as the most-visited art museum in the world with a record 8.8 million visitors last year.

BMW expects the global premium car market to grow more than twice as fast as the overall auto market this year, the German carmaker's finance chief told a German newspaper.

China has agreed to look into a complaint by India's foreign ministry that a diplomat was prevented from treating his severe diabetes and collapsed while offering consular assistance to two Indian citizens on trial in China's Yiwu city.