CHINA

Jeremy Lin & Linsanity will grace the cover of Time magazine next week in yet another major ego boost for the breakout New York Knicks star.

The S&P 500 hit a nine-month high on Thursday, fueled by strong U.S. economic data and increased hopes for a deal on a Greek bailout next week.

Baidu, China’s equivalent of Google, reported fourth-quarter earnings rose more than expected due to heavier Internet use and sales.Baidu said net income rose 77 percent to $326.3

The Duchess of Cambridge is getting waxed.

Now that President Barack Obama must nominate a new President of the World Bank, he’s keeping his mouth shut, especially in an election year.

For Western businesses, doing business in China requires careful navigation of the cultural differences between China and the West.

Chinese dissident Web site Boxun has reported that Wang uncovered a plot by his former boss, Bo Xilai, and a senior government official, Zhou Yongkang, to seize power from Xi Jinping, heir-apparent to the reigns of Communist Party leadership.

According to the Xinhua news agency, Lu Jun -- a referee at the 2002 World Cup -- was sentenced by the Intermediate People's Court in the northeastern city of Dandong to five years and six months for accepting bribes.

India's economy, a paragon of development, has more than tripled over the past 20 years, fueling a growing middle class that has helped turn the world's largest democracy into an engine of the world economy and raised millions out of poverty. It is behind only China, in terms of population. But there is one shocking statistic India's economic miracle has not been able to improve: the number of children that are severely malnourished.

The S&P 500 hit its highest level in nine months on Thursday as the U.S. economy showed further signs of recovery and optimism grew that a Greek bailout deal would be agreed next week.

Xi Jinping, Vice President of the People's Republic of China, will be courtside as the Lakers play the Suns at the Los Angeles Staples Center on Friday. But this self-proclaimed fan of American basketball has little to say about international phenomenon Jeremy Lin.

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) has embarked on a study of the working conditions in factories run by eight of Apple's suppliers in China, according reports by Reuters. Auret van Heerden, president of the FLA, noted that the working environment imposed onto the workers, which inevitably perpetuates boredom, could have contributed to the tragic suicides. After several days' worth of visits to the facility, Heerden commended that the conditions were not as slave-like as reported previously....

Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley's former chief economist and a well-known fixture on Wall Street, is retiring from the firm, according to a memo sent to employees on Thursday.

Worldwide sales of gold last year soared 29 percent to a record high as two groups of investors, each with mutually exclusive views of economic and financial threats, flocked to the yellow metal and related assets.

Dressed in a black Mao-style suit, a smiling Kim resembled his grandfather Kim Il-sung as he presided over a lavish military parade in honor of the recently deceased Kim Jong-Il.

Horse races are always fun to watch, even if no money is involved, and every four years, one of our two major political parties participates in a usually futile horse race. Americans are fed daily updates on who said what and on the ever fluctuating poll numbers.

General Motors Co. posted a record profit in 2011, adding to the dramatic turnaround for 103-year-old United States automaker just two years after filing for bankruptcy and nearly collapsing. The news sent stock of the company up more than 6 percent to $26.50 at midday.

Wild price swings caused by a volatile rupee sapped Indian buying interest in gold in the fourth quarter of 2011, with imports well short of expectations and no pick up expected this year, dropping it behind China for the first time.

Xi Jinping's visit to the United States is all the rage as Washington scurries to get a better impression of the presumed successor of President Hu Jintao. However, it would be premature to judge Xi's comfortable and amicable style as a sign of any weakness.

Before leaving Thursday, Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun said China does not approve of armed intervention to force regime change in Syria, adding that the trip was intended to end the bloodshed which has ravaged the country for almost a year.

Nestle echoed the cautious outlook for 2012 of other global food makers on Thursday as it said it was banking on new markets and products to put it ahead of the field after it posted forecast-beating 2011 sales growth.