IBT Staff Reporter

Chinese fishermen are finding themselves at the center of foreign policy disputes between their country and many others across the region. Even friends like North Korea seem to have it out for Chinese fishing vessels.

Stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors continued to worry about Greece's political and financial crisis as the country prepares for its second election in just over a month.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones down around 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4 percent at 4:10 a.m. EDT.

Facebook Inc will increase the size of its initial public offering by 25 percent to raise about $15 billion, a source familiar with the matter said, as strong investor demand for a share of the No.1 social network trumped ongoing debate about the company's long-term potential to make money.

International opinions about which nations serve as a positive influence on global affairs are changing. Around the world, more people are looking to Asia, with Japan topping the list, while increasing numbers are disappointed with Europe. However, Asians themselves remained wary of their neighbors.

Japan has allowed the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) to meet in Tokyo on Monday, the first time the group has met in an Asian country, drawing renewed anger from China.

The euro zone just avoided recession in early 2012, but the region's debt crisis sapped the life out of the French and Italian economies and widened a split with paymaster Germany.

A federal judge in New York on Monday refused to delay the approval process for a controversial $20 million settlement between Bank of America Corp directors and shareholders who accused the bank of overpaying for Merrill Lynch & Co.

As the leader of JPMorgan Chase & Co's hedging unit quit after trading losses that could end up exceeding $3 billion, the board seemed to be rallying behind CEO Jamie Dimon before the huge bank's annual shareholder meeting Tuesday.

China's internet community is abuzz with anger and xenophobia. Netizens are livid over the discovery of an alleged case of attempted rape of a young Chinese woman by a Western tourist in Beijing. However, other examples of selfless good deeds by visiting tourists temper sentiments.

Groupon Inc posted its first quarterly profit as the world's largest daily deal company reined in marketing spending while signing up more customers and merchants, sending its stock 11 percent higher.

Facebook Inc will close the books on its mammoth $10.6 billion initial public offering Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the deal.

China sent military observers to Syria as part of the U.N. mission there supervising a crumbling ceasefire. Meanwhile, bombings last week in Damascus and attacks against a U.N. convoy in the south call into question the safety of peacekeepers in the country.

U.S. stock index futures fell sharply on Monday, tracking global equity markets lower as a political impasse in Greece heightened concerns about the Europe's debt crisis as the region struggles to avoid a deepening recession.

Ally Financial Inc's Residential Capital unit is nearing a bankruptcy filing, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday, in a move that could help the taxpayer-owned auto lender to shed its troubled mortgage business but also spur drawn-out legal fights.

JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon said his bank reacted badly to warning flags last month that it had large trading losses in complex financial derivatives, according to a transcript of an interview broadcast on Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press television program.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on northeast Asia's powers to cooperate more in the face of global economic headwinds, as China, Japan and South Korea agreed at a summit on Sunday to soon launch negotiations on a three-way free trade pact.

An auction of Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei's porcelain sunflower seeds at Sotheby's in New York on Wednesday has fetched almost $800,000 - but it's unclear how much of the money will find its way to the hundreds of Chinese workers who made them.

The naval standoff between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea has the two countries on the brink of conflict, but a demonstration in Manila against China has been sparsely attended, offering hope that an escalation can be avoided.

Stock index futures fell on Friday and were on track to extend the week's losses after JPMorgan Chase & Co revealed a shocking trading loss of at least $2 billion from a failed hedging strategy.

Stock index futures fell sharply on Thursday evening as JPMorgan Chase & Co stunned investors with news that its chief investment office had incurred significant mark-to-market losses that it said could easily get worse.

If suspicions are proven correct, the incident marks a turn for the worse in the struggles of rural Chinese against housing demolitions and home relocation, a popular approach in the country for carrying out land development.

The Sino-Philippine dispute continues to intensify, as Chinese tourists are given warnings against traveling to the Philippines.

S&P 500 futures were flat on Thursday as investors paused from a recent bout of selling ahead of the latest report on the labor market.

The Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (Hong Kong: 1398; Shanghai: 601398), the world's largest bank, is set to buy an 80 percent stake in Bank of East Asia (BEA) USA, based in New York.

As Chinese students across the country prepare for major national examinations that will determine their academic future, and likely their careers as well, some are taking extreme measures to gain an advantage.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.6 percent, Dow Jones futures 0.3 percent weaker, and Nasdaq 100 futures off 0.5 percent at 04:54 a.m. EDT (0854 GMT).

Liang Guanglie is the first Chinese Minister of Defense to visit the U.S. in nine years. He and his American counterpart, Leon Panetta, are choosing to talk about what's going well rather than about the potential conflicts.

The top echelons of the Communist Party of China may be discussing a delay of a key congress later this year that would determine who will replace the nation's top nine leaders.