CHINA

Asian shares fell on Wednesday in low volume with many market players away for year-end holidays, while oil held on to the previous day's gains on concerns about possible supply disruptions after Iran threatened to stop the flow of oil from the Gulf.

The Asus Transformer Prime, which is considered as the most awaited Android tablet offering, has apparently posted a new record for Honeycomb powered tablets.

The U.S. Treasury again shied away from labeling China a currency manipulator on Tuesday, but it rapped the country for not moving fast enough on exchange rate reforms.

Paul Christoforo, a PR rep from Ocean Marketing, is under fire after an incendiary e-mail exchange between he and a customer was posted on Penny Arcade and subsequently went viral.

Arriving in Indonesia just a little over a decade ago, Belgium chocolatier Thierry Detournay was dismayed at the lack of quality chocolate on offer in the world's third-largest cocoa producer.

In what will be the Afghanistan's first international project in a decade, officials in Kabul approved an oil exploration deal with China's state-owned National Petroleum Corporation (CNCP).

China launched Beidou on Tuesday, which is the country's response to the U.S. GPS platform. The satellite navigation system will help China become more independent, in addition to providing the country with location-based needs.

China will begin work on the world's highest airport next year in Tibet's Nagqu county.

Chinese dissident Chen Xi has become the second dissident in four days to be jailed for inciting subversions through online essays; he was given a 10-year jail sentence by a Chinese court in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province.

Matthew McConaughey proposed to Camila Alves on Christmas Day, tweeting a cute picture of the longtime couple as they kissed by the Christmas tree. But who, exactly, is McCaughey's fiance? Is it true her mother doesn't approve of McConaughey? Here are five things to know about Camila Alves, from the couple's past to Alves' designer label and modeling career.

A subsidiary of Shanghai Construction Group Co. Ltd. will acquire gold mining assets in Eritrea, according to a company announcement.

China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, the nation's biggest dairy firm, said it had destroyed milk found to be contaminated with a cancer-causing substance, the latest food safety problem to hit the country's dairy industry.

Gold exchanges in China outside of two in Shanghai are to be banned, authorities said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Brazil has enjoyed a dizzying pace of economic growth in recent years due primarily to a huge escalation in commodity exports, particularly to the ravenous Chinese market.

China took a further step on Tuesday toward ending its dependence on U.S. satellites to provide navigation and positioning services with the start of trial operations of its homegrown Beidou system.

Debt-riddled Japan Tuesday relaxed its self-imposed decades-old ban on military equipment exports in a move that will open new markets to its defense contractors and help the nation squeeze more out of its defense budget.

North Korean artist Song Byeok used to paint propaganda for the country's late leader Kim Jong-il.

China's central government will run a smaller fiscal deficit in 2012, according to a report by local media.

China's listed banks are expected to raise over 100 billion yuan ($15.78 billion) through equity financing next year as they face pressure to replenish capital due to rapid loan growth and tighter regulation, the China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.

Above the ballooning dress of Marilyn Monroe is the face of the late North Korean despot Kim Jong-il. A pigeon flies overhead and a feather lies nearby on the ground.

To reduce/eliminate climate change, the U.S. must sub nuclear power for coal at electric power generating plants, until more-advanced energy forms are available. And France is a good model to follow: it generates almost 79 percent of its electricity from nuclear technology and has successfully reprocessed nuclear fuel for decades.