CHINA

On the final stop of a five-day visit to Europe, the Prime Minister of China Wen Jiabao has signed a huge multi-billion euro trading agreement with Germany.

Chinese girl offers her virginity for iPhone 4

China is doing everything it can to support the euro currency.

The United States has officially declared its endorsement of France’s finance minister Christine Lagarde to be the next chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), virtually guaranteeing she will becomes its boss when its board meets next week.

The United States formally offered its backing on Tuesday for French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde to take over the top job at the International Monetary Fund, ensuring a win for her over Mexico's Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens.

China has asked the US not to interfere in mounting tensions between Beijing, Hanoi and three other Southeast Asian governments over the South China Sea.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde looks set to emerge on Tuesday as the International Monetary Fund's new chief, maintaining the tradition of a European heading the global lender.

European Union officials are working on a contingency plan for Greece if its parliament rejects an austerity program and the country cannot receive the next instalment of EU/IMF emergency loans, three euro zone sources said on Monday.

Google on Monday disclosed that United State government requested user data from the company, more than 4,600 times last year.

Honda Motor Co's <7267.T> annual operating profit forecast is not conservative, given the yen's strength and soaring raw materials prices, the automaker's chief financial officer said on Tuesday.

Staff cuts coupled with growth in Hong Kong and other key Asian markets have put Standard Chartered Plc <2888.HK> on track for record profits in the first half of this year, up over 10 percent on a year earlier.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: SIGA Technologies, Sky-mobi, Northwest Bancshares, Shanda Games, and Cytori Therapeutics. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Life Partners Holdings, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, China Recycling Energy, Zhongpin, and SciClone Pharmaceuticals.

Shares of Motorola were slammed by the market on Monday after analysts expressed poor performance on what should be strong points for the company.

The anticipation for Apple's next generation iPhone 5 -- or in some circles, the iPhone 4s -- has exploded beyond a frenzy and reached more of a mania, with some observers not only predicting one phone, but two.

Premier Wen Jiabao called on Monday for freedom and real democracy in China, despite Beijing clamping down on dissent this year, as calls were made for a “Jasmine” revolution similar to uprisings in the Arab world.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is expected to be chosen as early as Tuesday to be the new leader of the International Monetary Fund, The Associated Press reported.

Ratings agency Moody's says Japan's debt level may lead to the country's third consecutive lost decade.

China could order dozens of Airbus jetliners during a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao to Berlin according to sources, but the deals are clouded by a spat between Beijing and Europe over aviation carbon tariffs.

Internet giant Google's tussles with some governments over Internet censorship could get worse, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said on Monday, adding he feared his own colleagues faced mounting danger of occasional arrest and torture.

British Prime Minister David Cameron asserted that he will push Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on the contentious issue of human rights in China, as the two nations have signed a huge trade deal valued at £1.4-billion.

After a diplomatic meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that Beijing supports a political resolution to the conflict in Libya.