CHINA

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' call for China's military to communicate better with its civilian leaders underscores the policy disconnect in Beijing and raises questions over who really wields control in China.

The euro paused on Friday but was still on track to post its best weekly performance against the dollar in 20 months, while Asian equity markets struggled to extend recent gains, with Japan's Nikkei retreating from an 8-month peak.

A U.S. military presence in the Pacific is essential to restrain Chinese assertiveness, Washington's defense chief said on Friday, describing China's technology advances as a challenge to U.S. forces in the region.

China will not bow to foreign demand for faster gains in the yuan and will stick to its gradualist approach in currency reform, senior officials said on Friday, indicating Chinese President Hu Jintao may push back if President Barack Obama presses him on the issue next week.

China's yuan exchange rate policy is based on its own national interests, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday, days before a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Starbucks Corp unveiled a deal that sets the stage for the world's largest coffee company to bring its iconic cafes to India, where Western-style coffee shops are increasingly popular.

China has angered India by issuing unorthodox visas to two Indians from a border state claimed by Beijing, the latest flare-up of a territorial dispute festering between the Asian giants.

Tata Steel, the world's seventh-largest steel maker, said on Friday that it would hold on to its shares in Australian miner Riversdale, calling it a strategic stake.

Intel Corp is positive about growth in PC sales in emerging Asia, particularly in China and India, a top executive said on Friday, a day after the chip heavyweight posted market-beating revenue and margins for the fourth quarter.

The embattled Congress-led coalition government failed to announce major policy decisions on Thursday to tackle soaring food prices after days of wrangling, taking only minor measures seen as unlikely to make a major impact.

Taiwan stocks opened up 0.11 percent on Friday, with semiconductors trading flat even though Intel Corp

Hong Kong stocks are set to ease on Friday morning as investors take profits after three days of strong gains, and shares of materials-related companies could decline due to falling commodity prices.

Changan Automobile (000625.SZ), a Chinese partner of Ford Motor (F.N), raised 3.5 billion yuan ($530 million) in a share offering after cutting the size of the deal by about 12 percent, the Chinese auto maker said on Friday.

Intel Corp beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter profit and sales estimates, and forecast higher-than-expected revenue in the current quarter.

Advances by China's military in cyber and anti-satellite warfare technology could challenge the ability of U.S. forces to operate in the Pacific, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday during a visit to Japan.

Retired professor Chen Chongyu and his wife Liu Zhenjuan dreamed of coming back to China from their daughter's home in France, but until last year the couple had nowhere to go.

Stocks edged lower on Thursday, hurt by a slide in drugmaker Merck and as falling commodities prices hit shares of natural resource companies.

The Chinese government is said to be looking to prepare at least 10 million car parking spots for electric vehicles by 2020 in a new comprehensive policy due to be announced soon, a top executive at a local automaker said on Thursday.

China is a money-sucking black hole that wastes resources and chokes the natural flow of the market-driven global economy.

Advances by China's military in cyber and anti-satellite warfare technology could challenge the ability of U.S. forces to operate in the Pacific, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in prepared remarks on Friday during a visit to Japan.

Investors showed appetite for Spain's debt Thursday, pushing borrowing costs up less than expected at its debut debt auction for 2011 and alleviating some concerns about the euro zone's more vulnerable debtor nations.