CHINA

A prominent Chinese human rights activist, known for her fight against government land grabs, went on trial Thursday, the third dissident in a week to be prosecuted in China.

Wall Street stocks resumed their upward move into year-end on Thursday but the S&P 500 continued to churn around its 200-day moving average as jitters over Europe contrasted with better-than-expected U.S. economic data.

23 tons of tusks were seized by authorities, suggesting the killing of at least 2,500 elephants worldwide by poachers

Avenger Controller has dumped Paul Christoforo and his Ocean Marketing firm after a rude exchange with a customer went viral. The e-mail thread was originally posted on Penny Arcade, a popular webcomic.

Pop artist and Brooklyn native James Rizzi died Monday in his SoHo, New York art studio from a heart condition at the age of 61, according to a statement written by manager Alexander Lieventhal, an executive at Art 28 GmbH & Co. in Stuttgart, Germany, which manages and sells Rizzi's work.

Millions of medical patients are crossing international borders each year to receive treatment in a growing trend known as medical tourism.

Build-A-Bear, a toy retailer that sells custom-made stuffed animals, has issued a recall for approximately 300,000 of its teddy bears that could be a choking hazard to children. The store is now offering a coupon for a free bear in exchange for those recalled.

China this week reached a milestone in its drive to master the military use of space with the launch of trials for its Beidou satellite global positioning network, a move that will bring it one step closer to matching U.S. space capabilities.

China has since October granted nearly $1 billion in quotas for foreign institutions to invest in the country's capital markets following a five-month hiatus, reflecting Beijing's desire to encourage inbound investment amid signs of a capital outflow.

Athabasca Oil Sands Corp has won regulatory approval for its MacKay River oil sands project, opening a one-month window that could result in its state-owned Chinese partner taking full control of the development.

The world entered 2011 with cautious optimism that things would improve over the gloom of 2009 and 2010. However, the past year has proven to be quite turbulent. The global economy was faced with a myriad of challenges including the European debt crisis, while the overall economic performance in the industrialized world left much to be desired.

Brazil mining company Vale has docked one of its giant iron ore vessels in China for the first time, ending a year-long impasse with Chinese authorities that threatened to hobble the company's plan to cut shipping costs to its biggest market.

At midnight on Thursday, Dec. 29, Samoa’s calendar will leap ahead to Saturday Dec. 31 as it redraws the international dateline to move to the western side after over a century on the east.

Build-A-Bear Workshop has issued a recall on 300,000 of its Colorful Hearts Teddy Bears sold in the U.S. and Canada after the Consumer Product Safety Commission deemed the product a choking hazard.

They can make in a month what the average worker earns in a lifetime. Many go about in private jets, employ multiple secretaries and glad-hand dignitaries and world leaders. Perched at the top of major corporations around the world, the chief executive officer blazes trails, inspires awe and commands attention. But under such immense scrutiny, when the CEO slips, the rest of the world takes notice.

The consensus among investment bankers and many traders is that gold prices will continue to climb in 2012.

Avenger Controller has decided to dump Ocean Marketing, the company's PR firm, after an inappropriate dispute with a customer went viral after it was posted in on Penny Arcade.

Paul Christoforo, a rep for Ocean Marketing, got into an inappropriate dispute with a customer, which was posted in full on Penny Arcade. The PR disaster has since gone viral, and Christoforo has asked Penny Arcade to Please make it stop.

A rare bird known as the Asian hooded crane most prevalent in Southeast Asia took a wrong turn according to conservation experts and made its way into the U.S., specifically Tennessee.

Workers at an LG Display factory in eastern China have gone on strike, halting some production, the company said on Wednesday, in the latest action by China's increasingly assertive workforce.

The 153 members of the World Trade Organization agree on two things: We're in a hole. And we must keep digging.