CHINA

Technology investors are about to endure the quarterly torrent of earnings reports, starting Thursday with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and escalating next week with other top names.

The United States does not need and cannot afford the Pentagon’s request for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will cost -- incredibly -- a mind-boggling $134.5 million per plane.

China's love affair with American education is stronger than ever. Chinese families -- including those in the burgeoning middle class -- want to send their sons and daughters to be educated in another country, with most coming to U.S. institutions.

According to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2012, China will overtake the U.S. to become the world's largest economy by 2020, but by 2050, India will surpass both.

Staying tight lipped about other anticipated features of the S3, Samsung confirmed in a recent report by Engadget that the upcoming phone will not feature any 3D technology. In a written statement to Engadget, Samsung Electronics was quoted saying, Although Samsung Electronics is constantly exploring new technologies for our mobile devices, we have no immediate plan to include displays featuring 3D technology in our upcoming smartphones.

Myanmar plans to increase rice exports by almost a fifth to 1 million tons in the current fiscal year (2012-2013), owing partly to international help in reviving its agriculture sector, state media said on Saturday.

The government's reporting on air quality is creating debate and suspicion in China, where people are increasingly doubting the pollution data released by the authorities.

An unidentified buyer smashed the world auction record for Chinese Song dynasty ceramics after a bidding war for a 900-year-old bowl on the final day of Asian spring sales for global auction powerhouse Sotheby's.

President Barack Obama reportedly sent a message to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, via Turkey's prime minister, saying the United States would accept a civilian nuclear program in the Islamic republic.

Faced with rising gas prices, Chinese citizens are becoming increasingly frustrated. In late March, the price at the pump in China for regular gasoline reached over 8 yuan per liter, or over $4.8 per gallon. Premium gasoline in China now sells for more than $5 per gallon.

On April 28, 2011, a 17-year-old boy traveled to Chenzhou City in the Hunan Province of China to sell his kidney for a new iPad 2. One year later, the boy's health is quickly deteriorating, and five people have been charged with intentional injury.

Alcoa Inc., the U.S. aluminum giant, said Thursday it will reduce its annual total alumina production capacity by 2 percent this year, aimed at matching output with its plans to reduce smelter capacity amid global oversupply that has hurt prices.

HTC One X has plunged a stiff competition for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S3 super smartphone. The quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked Android device was announced at the Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona in February and since then it has been getting a lot of attention for being a serious threat to Samsung's next best addition

So far this week, U.S. industrial giants have announced nearly $3 billion will be invested in new operations and research in Brazil, China and India three cornerstone members of the BRICS countries.

The drought in Yunnan province in the Southwest has already affected more than 6.3 million people, and marks a new high in China's environmental troubles

The head of China's national pension fund called for a bigger role for the Chinese currency in the international monetary system, saying the yuan could someday account for 10 percent of global reserves.

The incipient China branch of the international hacker organization Anonymous has hacked hundreds of mainland Chinese websites.

China's auto industry will enjoy an $11.6 billion boost in the coming year, as Ford (NYSE: F) and Volvo try to increase output and market share in Asia.

GM sales in China rose sharply in March, a somewhat unexpected increase, as competitors in the country are seeing only modest gains. Sales were driven into high gear by the six-speed Buick Excelle, a luxury sedan manufactured locally that -- at over $20,000 -- is an icon of achievement for the burgeoning upper middle-class in China.

China has further opened up its domestic share markets for foreign participation, in a bid to ease the tight controls for investments by qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs).

The U.S. titan will provide technology services to Eike Batista's EBX Group and acquire a 20 percent stake in EBX subsidiary SIX Automacao.