CHINA

The mystery over the disappearance of the top Chinese police officer, Wang Lijun, continues to deepen as details emerge about the missing cop.

The United States has threatened action that could disrupt a French-led satellite maker's supply chain, spurred by suspicion that it illegally used U.S. know-how or parts in spacecraft launched by Chinese rockets.

Now that the all new Apple iPad 3 has a set release date of early March, the question now is will it be ethically produced by Chinese factory workers at places like Foxconn. Reports of poor working conditions in Chinese factories that make the $500 or more iPad, have forced Apple to confront the possibility it may have to intervene or at least make an effort to investigate the charges.

Russia faced a barrage of condemnations after it joined China over the weekend in vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step aside, but Russia has stood resolutely behind its decision. Why?

India is highly dependent on Persian oil and may not heed demands from the west that it buy its crude elsewhere.

Get ready for iPad 3 - according to a report by AllThingsD, Apple may launch the next-generation iPad at the event which will be held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, where on March 2, last year, iPad 2 was unveiled.

The United States has threatened action that could disrupt a French-led satellite maker's supply chain, spurred by suspicion that it illegally used U.S. know-how or parts in spacecraft launched by Chinese rockets.

The moves puts the focus on Mark Fields, 50, who runs Ford's operations in North and South America, and Joe Hinrichs, 45, who runs the automaker's operations in Asia, as the leading internal candidates to succeed Mulally.

India and Iran share close historical links, or so argued India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Now economic interests are pulling the two countries closer again. India has struck a clever deal to pay for Iranian oil in its own not freely convertible currency, the rupee. It could be a diplomatic hot potato.

Singapore enjoys close relations with both the U.S. and China.

Siri, the voice-controlled intelligent assistant exclusive to the iPhone 4S, will support Chinese language from March, Tech in Asia reported, citing the Chinese tech site DoNews.

China's inflation unexpectedly rebounded in January mainly due to gains in food prices and a weeklong holiday. Though this does not change the broader downward trend in inflation and provides room for Beijing to stimulate its economy if the Euro area experiences a sharp recession. It does support economists' view that Beijing will not put in place aggressive stimulus packages as it aims for a smooth leadership transition this year.

To whet the appetite of Apple fans, who are eagerly waiting for the highly anticipated iPad 3, a purported rear shell of the yet-to-be-released tablet was leaked, suggesting several subtle changes from its predecessor.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both down 0.1 percent, while Dow Jones futures were up 0.2 percent at 6:28 a.m. ET.

China's annual inflation spiked to a consensus-busting 4.5 percent in January as spending jumped during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday season, breaking a five-month softening trend and forcing a market rethink of policy easing expectations.

Gold edged up along with crude oil and the euro on expectations the Greek prime minister's presence in Brussels Thursday signals a likelihood his nation will receive desperately needed bailout money.

European stock markets and the euro extended two months of gains on Thursday as Greece edged closer to a bailout deal and investors bet a brace of central bank meetings would offer further support for the move into riskier assets.

The rally in the euro and European shares advanced on Thursday as Greece edged closer to a bailout deal and on expectations the Bank of England and the European Central Bank will maintain support for the move into riskier assets.

China's stock market improvement could be jeopardized by a higher than expected inflation reading for January.

More than three quarters of U.S. company bosses think that the federal government did not do its part to effectively deal with the implications of the global economic crisis.

Asian shares struggled but the euro recovered on Thursday, as markets were left without a clear direction after Greek political leaders failed again to conclude a deal for a bailout package, which Athens needs to avoid a messy debt default.