CHINA

Gold prices held just below the previous session's record high in Europe on Wednesday, as the acceleration of global inflation and the threat that violence in the Middle East and North Africa will spread supported interest in the metal as a haven from risk.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Shanda Games, Mecox Lane, China Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology, Cytori Therapeutics, Novavax, and Yahoo!. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Wonder Auto Technology, Vical, Sina, Hudson City Bancorp, and Joy Global.

China is locking down droves of people it fears could spark social unrest and tightening media controls ahead of the annual session of parliament, worried that uprisings in the Middle East could encourage dissent.

China has decided to cut income taxes for middle-income residents by raising the threshold for income tax payments, China's cabinet said on Wednesday, but did not give any details on the size of the tax cut.

Jon Huntsman is a savvy operator who knows how to work a crowd. But it was someone in a crowd who worked Huntsman on a bitterly cold Sunday last month when the U.S. envoy to China was seen at a small anti-government protest in Beijing.

Asian stocks ended lower on Wednesday, following declines in the Wall Street overnight on concerns that rising oil prices could hurt economic recovery.

Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered <2888.HK> met expectations with a 19 percent rise in profits and said it was off to a record start this year as China, India and other Asian markets boomed.

With anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks, and social media platforms Twitter and Facebook in the running, Internet dominates the race for Nobel Peace Prize 2011.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Mecox Lane, Shanda Games, Trustmark, Cytori Therapeutics, Hercules Offshore, and Yahoo!. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Datalink, Wonder Auto Technology, Sina, ArQule, and Ener1.

Shareholders of two of the firms in a consortium buying U.S. insurer AIG's Taiwan unit approved the $2.16 billion bid on Wednesday, setting the scene for what is expected to be a tough battle with regulators.

China and Hong Kong shares were lower by midday Wednesday as market players preferred to cut risk after escalating political tensions in the Middle East prompted a pull-back on Wall Street and in other Asian markets.

Liu Chong, a Shanghai resident, has overcome stylistic differences and parental disapproval to realize his dream: publishing in a mainstream manga magazine in Japan, the home of manga comics.

A former partner of D.E. Shaw and an ex-Goldman Sachs (GS.N) partner are setting up a new firm to raise about $500 million for a China-focused private equity fund to join the growing competition for deals in the world's No.2 economy, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

The top two U.S. defense officials have not confirmed if the Libyan government has been firing on its own people from aircraft.

Yahoo Inc is in advanced talks to exit its joint venture in Japan with SoftBank Corp, a move that could lead it to focus on reaching a decision on its China assets.

Sands China (1928.HK), the Macau-based casino operator run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, driven by surging demand in the world's largest gaming market.

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) won the rights to a giant Siberian gas field destined to supply the fast-growing markets of China, a spokesman for the sale organiser said on Tuesday.

The Chinese government blamed foreign reporters on Tuesday for a weekend ruckus with police who tried to prevent them covering a planned protest in Beijing, as rights groups slammed China for curtailing press freedoms.

China, the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, wants rich nations to vow bigger cuts to emissions as part of a new international deal on fighting global warming, Beijing's top climate negotiator said on Tuesday.

China may have more potential than ever to influence U.S. debt prices after data showed the country owns more than a $1 trillion in Treasuries, almost a third more than previously thought.

With warships and missiles, Russia is flexing its muscles in the Far East in a bid to defend its position as an Asian power against China's growing might.