GOLD

China Thursday ordered four international auditing firms in the country to hire Chinese nationals in a bid to suppress foreign control of their operations in the country.

AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU), the largest gold miner in Africa, said Thursday its profit more than doubled in the first quarter, when compared to year ago results, despite decreased output.

New Labor Department data suggests a strong start to jobs growth in January may not get wiped out by negative growth heading into the third quarter.

Ron Paul ate with Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, on Wednesday, and after their meal Paul joked that he's for the gold standard now.

Vidal Sassoon's death yesterday at 84 years old brought out a startling admission among many in the Twitterverse: They didn't realize Sassoon, the iconic English-born hairdresser who has a line of hair products that bear his name, was actually a real person.

Avion Gold Corp lowered its production forecast for the year after it halted mill expansion plans at its Tabakoto mine in Mali due to a military coup.

Gold steadied in Europe on Thursday after falling to a four-month low in the previous session, as an uptick in the euro after Spain moved to clean up its banks and Europe's bailout fund approved a key payment to Greece took some pressure off prices.

Anti-austerity momentum in Greece continued to weigh down markets with the prospect of the country defaulting or leaving the euro. Spain?s Ibex 35 Index lost 3 percent, led by bank stocks, while its 10-year yields rose more than 6 percent over banking-sector concerns.

Featured in the latest Google Doodle is Howard Carter, an English archaeologist and Egyptologist known for having a primary role in the discovery of the tomb of 14th-century BC pharaoh Tutankhamun (a.k.a. King Tut). Carter, who discovered King Tut's tomb on Nov. 4, 1922, is illustrated in the Google Doodle on the 138th anniversary of his birthday.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex closed at a four month low by shedding nearly 67 points on Wednesday as weak global trends triggered heavy fund outflows.The BSE bench mark 30 share index lost 66.60 points to reach 16,479.59, dragged down by sharp declines in Reliance industry and banking stocks. Reliance Industries dropped for the sixth day by losing 1.91 per cent to Rs 695.10 after it cut the estimates for actual natural gas reserves available in its Indian blocks.

First quarter box-office sales for 2012 were recording breaking thanks to films like The Hunger Games. Now blockbuster season has officially begun with The Avengers, which opened with $207.4 million, the biggest opening in film history. So what can audiences look forward to next? The summer slate is packed with intriguing action films that will no doubt be massively successful.

Can't get enough of Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's First Take? The worldwide leader is planning a shakeup of the popular sports debate show that gives the colorful Smith a more visible role on the program.

Post-election uncertainty in Greece pushed investors away from stocks and commodities, lowering German and U.S. bond yields and eroding the euro's value as investors sought the dollar. France's benchmark CAC 40 Index erased its Monday gains, which had confounded investors. The reality sank in a day late as euro zone uncertainties that popped up over the weekend took root. Greek stocks have lost 10 percent of their value so far this week.

Johnny Depp along with the rest of the cast of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows hit the red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere of the movie on Monday, just as some harsh reviews roll in for the film rehashed from a 1960's gothic soap opera. View the slideshow to see photos of the red carpet for the Dark Shadows premiere in Los Angeles.

U.S. and European stocks as well as commodities fell hard Tuesday on worries about the effect of a possible Greek departure from the euro zone.

Tyler Gold, a 23-year-old man from southeast Nebraska, has decided to legally change his name to Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Kate Upton's attending the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute on Monday night was supposed to be the bikini model's debut (and possibly transition) into the world of high fashion, but the blonde bombshell's style fell flat. Critics roasted her for her Met Gala ensemble, some saying she looks better without clothes on. What do you think?

Drama, drama, drama. The gowns that stood out the most at the 2012 Met Gala at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit certainly brought the most drama. From trailing trains and see-through lace to feathers and layers upon layers of tulle, the most dramatic gowns of the night proved to be the most stunning. Check out photos of Beyonce, Florence Welch, Cate Blanchett and more.

Gold fell for a second day on Tuesday, under pressure from the slide in the euro on the back of political uncertainty in Greece and a change of president in France, while Chinese import figures did little to offset the impact of the weaker currency.

The Met Gala is known as the Oscars of the East Coast and fashion's biggest night of the year; so of course it is a daunting feat to have to decide on a best-dressed lady of the night. Despite how difficult it may be to choose, some stars truly did shine brighter than others. Here are photos of the best dressed, including Karolina Kurkova, Nina Dobrev, Camilla Belle and more.

Western markets rallied Monday to make up for jitters about French and Greek election results that sent them down earlier. The rebound was possibly due to investors looking for bargains after stocks were dumped Friday after the disappointing U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.