CHINA

Republican presidential candidates stepped up their attacks on rival Mitt Romney in a televised debate on Sunday morning -- a mere two days before primary-election voters in New Hampshire head to the polls -- and the front-runner mostly weathered the attacks.

The head of Europe's bailout fund was reported on Sunday as saying he wants to boost state guarantees on the fund's bonds, although a fund official said no changes had been made to an original plan.

Chinese banks ratcheted up the pace of lending in the last month of 2011 to 640.5 billion yuan ($101.51 billion) from 562.2 billion yuan in November as the central bank eases policy to cushion the domestic impact of the global economic slowdown.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will ask China's leaders this week to use their influence to lean on North Korea to show restraint amid a delicate transition to a new leadership.

The New Hampshire 2012 Republican debate was filled with question on social issues, foreign policy and the economy.

The very idea that a 30-story building could be built in 15 days -- or 360 hours -- is mind-boggling. But that's what happened in China, as a 30-story hotel went up in just 15 days.

The World Bank will recommend reforms to China's domestic financial system as part of broader proposals to help wean the country from a dependence on exports to sustain economic growth, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday.

Bashir is regarded as a war criminal in the West and is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges he committed genocide in connection with the mass murder of people in the Darfur.

To find a precedent for the deep, lasting output cuts that aluminum producers must make to put a floor under prices, traders are looking a lot further back than the last recession.

China's total insurance premiums rose 10 percent to 1.43 trillion yuan ($226.64 billion) in 2011 from a year earlier, state media quoted the country's industry regulator as saying on Saturday.

The knives will come out at back-to-back debates this weekend as Republican presidential hopefuls frantically jockey for position days before New Hampshire's key primary.

U.S. President Barack Obama kicked off an effort to encourage businesses to keep jobs at home instead of outsourcing them overseas, as he rolled out a new election-year theme on Saturday aimed at courting middle-class voters.

The Asian political canvas looks challenging in 2012, with government changes in key countries likely to surprise investors and businesses. The highlights are a once-in-a-decade leadership change in China, chances of an early general election in India, worsening uncertainty in Pakistani politics and general elections in South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia.

About 18 couples from Nigeria, Russia and China tied the knots in a freezing cold of minus 20 degrees during a group wedding ceremony at the Chinese city of Harbin Friday.

Toronto's main stock index finished lower for the first time this year on Friday, as resource and financial issues fell after Canadian and U.S. jobs data failed to impress investors.

Jon Huntsman and members of his family expressed outrage Friday at an advertisement targeted at his adopted daughters by a group supporting rival Ron Paul.

European shares ended little changed on Friday, with many investors happy to cash in on three weeks of gains ahead of the start of the U.S. fourth-quarter earnings season on Monday.

American Airlines, US Airways, and United Continental have all joined Delta in adding a $3 surcharge to fares purchased in the United States for flights to Europe in response to the EU's new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The ad finishes with an image of Huntsman dressed as the infamous Communist leader Mao Zedong.

Year of the Dragon begins on Jan. 23.

American Airlines and US Airways Group have joined other big U.S. carriers in adding surcharges to flights in the wake of a disputed European law requiring airlines to pay for aircraft emissions.