CHINA

The European Union will formalize a suspension of sanctions against Myanmar next Monday, allowing for major easing on restrictions against the country over the next year.

The Chinese government Thursday reacted diplomatically to India's successful launch of the nuclear capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-V while the government-controlled media lashed out at India for attempting to compete with China.

Shares of Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), the biggest designer of mobile chips, plunged more than 5 percent in early Thursday trading after missing second-quarter earnings estimates.

At a time when the smartphone lovers are busy churning out all possible features of Apple's next generation iPhone, it is apt to do a reality check. Some of the patents are like unibody design, ultrasonic bonding, iWallet, NFC, Universal Remote Control and etc. which Apple recently won might be featured in the next iPhone.

India now joins China, Russia, France, the U.S. and UK (and perhaps Israel) as the only countries on earth with similar capabilities.

Chinese workers who are exposed to silica dust in mines, and pottery and gemstone factories suffer not only from respiratory illnesses, but are at higher risk of contracting heart and infectious diseases and cancer, researchers in China have found.

Silver enjoyed a record 2011, as investors turned to physical bars and coins of the precious metal to piggyback a strong year for gold, according to The Silver Institute's World Silver Survey 2012 released on Thursday.

Amid the Samsung and Apple flagship model's launch buzz drifting to new levels in the mobile space every single day, tech enthusiasts might not be able to ignore this combined piece of news about the three powerful launches which are heading for the US release very soon. Yes, the spill is about the latest announcement by two major smartphone manufacturers, including HTC and Huawei.

UN probe panel is investigating the allegations that China has provided long range ballistic missile technology to North Korea, according to an AFP report quoting a defense magazine. According to the allegations North Korea's new missile launcher is based on Chinese missile technology, report said.Military analysts of IHS Jane's magazine tipped-off the United Nation's panel of experts about a possible transfer of either technology or the missile itself, from China to North Korea.

Eurosclerosis may finally have hit the technology sector.

China is planning to ease monetary policy further to boost liquidity in the financial system and help the economy regain growth momentum it lost in recent times, according to reports.

The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it has received pledges worth $320 billion to boost a global firewall against Europe's debt crisis.

India Thursday successfully test fired nuclear capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-V, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced in a press statement. With the launch of the missile, which has a range of 3,100 miles, India has joined the elite club of countries with long-range nuclear missile capability.

General Motors (GM.N) and Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp. (600104.SS) have agreed to let GM to buy back the 1 percent share of the joint venture the Detroit automaker sold during its financial crisis several years ago, according to a source familiar with the plan.

The head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Alicia Barcena suggested Wednesday that Mexico’s 2012 GDP growth could be higher than expected due to the pace of recovery in the United States and Mexico’s open economic policies relative to other countries in the region.

Japan slashed its oil purchases from Iran in April, cutting imports from the Islamic Republic by nearly 80 percent.

While chances of a third round of U.S. money-printing quantitative easing measures, or QE3, have dimmed, the World Gold Council, or WGC, remains positive on the yellow metal's outlook due to its international appeal and value in hedging against inflation and deflation.

Election 2012? Democrats are already cheering for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

China and the Philippines took one step further on Wednesday in their ongoing military face-off over the Scarborough Reef, known by the Chinese as Huangyan Island and by the Filipino as Panatag Shoal.

Recently, India also commissioned a Russian-made nuclear submarine, and it is negotiating with a French company for more than a hundred Rafale fighter jets.

The ship flies an Antigua and Barbuda flag and that it is chartered to a Ukrainian company.