CHINA

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged private industry to protect Internet freedoms Thursday, saying it was vital to promote online rights amid restrictions in Russia, Syria and China.

The North American leg kicks off in April.

Australian scientists on Thursday said they discovered a pair of insect-like eyes belonging to a freakish prehistoric super-predator called Anomalocaris, which had 16,000 individual lenses.

Hewlett-Packard, who may have inadvertently jump-started widespread interest in tablet computers with a deep price discount in September, will again be selling their now discontinued TouchPad tablets for $99 on Sunday, Dec.11. When the TouchPad first came out, the price was $400, nearly as much as an iPad.

Two surveys released Wednesday concludes that poultry workers in China still need H5N1 avian flu education and that people in China have changed their eating habits in response to bird flu.

McDonald's Corp reported a bigger-than-expected rise in November sales at established restaurants across the board, led by big gains in Japan, China and a strong showing in its top revenue market of Europe.

British luxury fashion brand Mulberry said it had substantial room for growth in Europe, the United States and Asia, as it reported first-half profit more than treble last year's due to robust international demand.

With an expected price of $99, American consumers will soon get the chance to try out the Novo7, the first tablet computer to sun Android's Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Get the full spec list here, learn where to look for Novo7s (now available only in China), and compare it another Apple iPad challenger, the ill-fated HP TouchPad.

Sharp Corp said on Thursday it will likely sell more than 1 million large-screen TVs of 60-inches and above in North America in the year to March 31, and expects the burgeoning market to push sales higher next business year.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Affymax, G-III Apparel Group, Central European Distribution, BioSante Pharmaceuticals, and Amgen. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Tesla Motors, Clearwire, Aixtron, ASM International, and Crosstex Energy.

A ruptured hull in the world's largest dry bulk ship could sink Vale's multi-billion dollar plan for a flotilla of giant vessels to link its iron ore mines to the mills of top steelmaker China.

Gold prices, like global stocks and major currencies, hardly moved Thursday as investors waited to see if Europe would manage to stanch its debt crisis and avoid a recession, or worse.

Anelka arrived at Chelsea in 2008.

Asia's economic growth looks set to stumble over the next few months, prompting a flurry of interest rate cuts and a spike in stimulus spending that may ultimately pave the way for a strong recovery in the second half of 2012. The catch-phrase for 2012 is the Asia yo-yo.

Asian stock markets declined on Thursday, as investors' hopes declined over the outcome of a long-awaited crucial European Union (EU) summit later this week.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: G-III Apparel Group, Central European Distribution, JetBlue Airways, Broadcom, and Seagate Technology. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Clearwire, GTX, American Public Education, Western Liberty Bancorp, and China Medical Technologies.

A Japanese government official said on Thursday he had not heard of a reported $600 billion IMF lending facility to help the euro zone, although Japan would consider providing bilateral loans to the Fund if warranted by developments in Europe.

Asia's economic growth looks set to stumble over the next few months, prompting a flurry of interest rate cuts and a spike in stimulus spending that may ultimately pave the way for a strong recovery in the second half of 2012.

Citigroup began a round of layoffs among its London-based investment bankers this week after Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said the bank will layoff 4,500 employees as it attempts to trim costs.

Sharp Corp said on Thursday it will likely sell more than 1 million large-screen TVs of 60-inches and above in North America in the year to March 31, and expects the burgeoning market to push sales higher next business year.

China will support Europe in its efforts to overcome its debt crisis which Beijing sees as only temporary, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said after talks in Berlin Wednesday.