CHINA

Mutual fund giant Fidelity is actively preparing to enter China by securing a trust company licence in one of the world's fastest-growing asset management market, a person familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Technology services provider Digital China Holdings Ltd is bidding for the rights to sell Apple Inc's iPad and Research in Motion Ltd's tablet PC in China, its chief executive said.

In the muggy forest of central Liberia, a gang of workers is inching its way along a railway track, cut long and straight through an otherwise impenetrable mesh of trees and vines. The drone of insects is interrupted by a high-pitched drill and the clang of hammers as workers put the finishing touches to the perfectly aligned steel tracks.

US “austerity is really foolish,” said famed economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz in his office at Columbia University, in an interview with IBTimes.

Chinese encyclopedia website Hudong.com is alleging that Baidu Inc. is using its dominant position in the country's search engine market to negatively impact search results related to its competitors.

Internet giant Google has stepped in to rescue New Zealand earthquake victims with its Person Finder service.

Most Asian stocks ended lower on Wednesday, led by declines from airlines as crude oil prices surged on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.”

PC giant Hewlett-Packard Co's quarterly sales and outlook came in below Wall Street expectations, sending its shares down 11 percent in the afterhours trading on the NYSE.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Nordson, Oclaro, MIND C.T.I., Star Bulk Carriers, and CDC. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Huron Consulting Group, Subaye, Chart Industries, Ixia, and Fuwei Films.

Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be in focus as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets European Union leaders on Thursday, but business leaders and trade officials from the U.S., EU and the WTO think Russia's entry is going to be difficult, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

VOANews.com was hacked by a pro-Iran cyber activist group that changed the domain name settings of the site, leading visitors to a different site controlled by the group.

According to PwC, deals in defense and aerospace were at three-year high, with 17 deals in Q4 totaling over $4 billion in value.

U.S. stocks plunged and oil prices surged on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.” The concerns about Libya vastly overshadowed some surprisingly good consumer confidence data in the U.S.

U.S. stocks plunged and oil prices surged on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.” The concerns about Libya vastly overshadowed some surprisingly good consumer confidence data in the U.S.

A Chinese man has died playing computer games for three-straight days without sleeping and hardly eating anything, according to China media reports.

South Africa will export 4 million tonnes of surplus maize to the world's biggest emerging markets but wants to ensure security of food supplies in southern Africa first, a minister said on Tuesday.

Medtronic Inc (MDT.N) cut its full-year earnings forecast, hampered by weakness in key medical device markets, and said it would eliminate up to 2,000 jobs, sending its shares down 2 percent. The world's largest medical device maker has struggled with slow sales as patients postponed treatments in the global

China's ANTA Sports Products Ltd said it recorded 20 percent growth in order book value for the third quarter of 2011, suggesting optimism among distributors over sportswear industry prospects in the mainland.

Shares of Alibaba.com tumbled as much as 10 percent after an internal probe prompted resignations of its top executives and forced the company to clean up a vendor mess that defrauded buyers.

China Mobile Ltd, the world's biggest mobile operator, and state-run Xinhua News Agency have jointly launched an Internet search engine, the companies said on Tuesday.

China has fined retail giants Carrefour SA and Wal-Mart Stores Inc a combined 9.5 million yuan ($1.5 million) for manipulating product prices in some of their stores, the country's top economic planner said on Tuesday.