CHINA

When Chinese worker Wu Jun heard that her employer, the giant electronics assembly company Foxconn, had given employees landmark concessions her reaction was worry, not elation.

An audit by the Fair Labor Association has raised serious concerns over the working conditions at the Chinese factories of Foxconn Technology Group, which manufactures Apple products.

While hiring in the Belgian job market remains cautious, there is a significant shortage in high-tech, highly skilled occupational areas such as IT specialists and engineers.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Thursday were: Fortuna Silver Mines, McEwen Mining, E-Commerce China Dangdang, Accretive Health, Collective Brands and Silvercorp Metals Inc. The top aftermarket NYSE losers were: Vocera Communications, Brandywine Realty Trust, Penn Virginia Corp, CPB Inc, Fresh Del Monte Produce and Humana Inc.

It is a marriage made in heaven for shopping addicts. Social shopping, the merger of social networking and e-commerce which has hooked millions of users in the United States, has now captured the attention of China's Internet giant.

The next major reform in China’s exchange rate policy is likely to be a widening of the renminbi’s daily trading band with the dollar, according to analysts.

Apple Inc and its China manufacturing partner, Foxconn, agreed to improve wages and working conditions at factories accused of being sweatshops, a move that could set a new higher-cost benchmark for other Western users of Chinese labor.

In a landmark development for the way Western companies do business in China, Apple Inc said on Thursday it had agreed to work with partner Foxconn to tackle wage and working condition violations at the factories that produce its popular products.

Apple is facing increasingly more criticism regarding poor working conditions at its supplier Foxconn's Chinese factories. In an effort to improve working conditions, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Foxconn Technology Group's new manufacturing facility for the iPhone in Zhengzhou, China.

An audit of Apple products manufacturer Foxconn found serious and pressing Chinese labor law violations.

The United States stepped up lobbying on Thursday for its pick to retain the top job at the World Bank as emerging markets pushed their view that the time has come for rich nations to share leadership of key institutions.

Whether it's a desire to be as dapper as Don Draper on television's Mad Men, a need to look good for a job interview or just a hankering for new duds, men have increased their spending on fancy clothes, and executives expect the boom to continue.

In a landmark development for the way Western companies do business in China, Apple Inc said Thursday it had agreed to work with partner Foxconn to substantially improve wages and working conditions at the factories that produce its wildly popular products.

Dongyang, in the Zhejiang province of China, boasts one of the most unique delicacies to still be consumed in modern times: virgin boy eggs, hard-boiled eggs soaked and boiled in the urine of boys under the age of ten. While medical experts view the delicacy (see photos here) warily, the day-long process for making the eggs has made the unusual food a proud part of Dongyang life for centuries.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), the largest U.S. and global producer of oil has been dethroned from its top spot.

The ASUS Transformer Prime Eee Pad will be receiving a new firmware update that will give the tablet Ethernet support and Face Unlock capabilities as well as other laptop-like features.

Palladium prices are set to soar this year, buoyed by high levels of speculative buying, unwavering industrial demand and the general upward price pressure commodity metals are seeing in a zero-interest rate environment, according to a report issued Thursday.

The heads of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, drafted a joint statement attacking American and European aggressive policy actions and dominance of global institutions.

Facebook (NYSE: FB), the No. 1 social network website, will stop insider trades of its shares Friday because its initial public offering roadshow will begin next week.

Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption on Thursday arrested the chairmen of Sun Hung Kai Properties, brothers Raymond and Thomas Kwok, on suspicion of corruption, the company said.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are meeting in Delhi to discuss a range of issues, including increased financial integration of the member countries.