CHINA

Scotland welcomed two new residents on Sunday: Tian Tian and Yang Guang, the panda bears that may just increase the country's tourism numbers and boost its economy.

In protest of local government corruption in Uttar Pradesh, India, a snake charmer released 40 poisonous snakes inside a tax office.

Thick smog in Beijing cancelled hundreds of flights out of the world's second busiest airport and closed motorways linking the Chinese capital to the north.

On December 2, Western media reported that a 46-year-old former monk set himself on fire to protest against the Chinese government's rule of Tibet.

A Chinese bank is in talks about taking a stake in Saab, in the latest attempt to rescue the crisis-hit Swedish car maker after an earlier deal to secure its future ran into trouble.

As young Chinese become wealthier, there is one area where they are increasingly looking to make a big impression on their families and friends and create lifelong memories for themselves: weddings.

Coca-Cola Co. defended on Friday the safety of its yogurt drinks sold in northern China, denying there was any link to the death of a child or the illness of three other people who had consumed the drinks, but said it removed the product from shelves in a precautionary move.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels reached 10 billion tonnes in 2010, the first time such an amount has ever been reached, according to an editorial Sunday.

U.S. derivatives market CME Group will allow international investors to use China's currency as collateral when trading futures contracts, starting next month.

Just a month shy of her first anniversary as Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff's tenure has been marred by a series of corruption scandals involving cabinet ministers. Rousseff has lost minister after minister to corruption scandals since last June, almost at the rate of one a month. The latest to lose his office is Labor Minister Carlos Lupi. The successive resignations point directly to the corruption that is deeply embedded in the public administration system in Brazil.

Gold prices barely moved Monday, as weak physical buying and easing investor interest offset anticipation of good economic news from the U.S. and hope that this week's big European meeting aimed at solving the debt crisis will not disappoint.

A pair of pampered giant pandas, two of the few remaining specimens of an endangered species, was welcomed to their new homes in Scotland, on Sunday. The plane - Panda Express - carrying the two animals, for whom the Edinburgh Zoo is paying $10 million to Chinese authorities, landed at 9 p.m. Beijing time, at Edinburgh Airport, after taking off from the southwestern Chinese city of Chegndu.

Asian stocks mostly ended on a positive note Monday ahead of Franco-German summit in Paris aimed at halting contagion from Europe's growing debt crisis.

China's entry into the World Trade Organization and its development over the last 10 years has contributed to global prosperity, according to former WTO Director David Hartridge.

Asian shares and the euro steadied on Monday on hopes European leaders would agree on a definitive plan to solve the euro zone's debt crisis at a crucial summit this week, with sentiment also getting a lift from Italy unveiling austerity steps.

Carbon dioxide emissions, from the burning of fossil fuels and production of cement, registered record increases last year, according to researchers with the Global Carbon Project, who reported a 5.9 percent increase.

Boeing Co launched its six-month world tour of the new 787 Dreamliner jet from Beijing, China on Dec.4, 2011.

An increasing number of foreign women, mostly from the bordering countries of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, are being abducted and trafficked into China according to a report by the China Daily.

Japan's Nikkei stock average edged higher Monday to build on last week's hefty gains on improved sentiment about the European debt situation, but uncertainty about how markets will assess Italy's new austerity plan capped the upside.

The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for China's services sector fell to 52.5 from 54.1 in November, signalling its slowest rate of growth in three months and the latest in a series of data points portraying a quickly cooling economy in need of policy support.

China's new bank loans in 2012 may increase slightly from this year's quota of 7.5 trillion yuan ($1.18 trillion), but the government will maintain lending curbs on the property sector, the China Business News reported on Monday, citing an official from the China Banking Regulatory Commission .