Highlights
Witnessing friends' vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to German researchers. |
China could be considering relaxing its harsh one-child policy because of women like Hu Yanqin, who lives in a village at the edge of the Gobi desert. |
As Beijing eases control over its currency and opens up its financial markets to foreign investors, the yuan is gaining ground as a global currency and is headed for further gains. |
Hong Kong residents Chris Lane and his wife, Karen are planning to have a second child – but find themselves hampered by the city's housing policy. |
Top Chinese doctor says expats insult capital by using term 'Beijing Cough.' The Global Post reports. |
Developed and emerging market equities were locked in a tight race in 2012, both generating double-digit returns of up to 15 percent, however, this year asset managers expect a clear winner. |
While China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerated by a faster-than-expected 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter, analysts are questioning the sustainability of this uptick in economic activity. |
It was first reported in 2010 that the pillars of Kolkata's landmark Howrah bridge were being used as spittoons by pedestrians who chewed gutkha – a tobacco product popular with millions in India. The Christian Science Monitor reports. |
Let's hear it for the boys. China's fashion-forward men are snapping up Gucci and Burberry bags, driving a rebound in the luxury market months after a slow down in spending by the world's biggest luxury goods buyers spooked global investors. |
Cambodia is among Southeast Asia's most impoverished nations where, according to the United Nations, the majority of the population gets by on just $1 a day. But that hasn't stopped them from buying mobile phones like mad. The Global Post reports. |
Jackie Chan’s evolution toward a more vocal pro-Beijing stance has become more pronounced in both his movies and his politics. |
It's now illegal (again) for women to ride bicycles in North Korea. The country's leader Kim Jung Un reinstated his father's absurd law, but only after he lifted the ban last year. The GlobalPost reports. |
China's growth is expected to have re-accelerated to near 8 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, but there are some troubling inconsistencies in the economy, according to the China Beige Book released on Wednesday. |
Adding to a rising chorus of analysts warning of a potential bond market crash in 2013 is David Roche, president of Independent Strategy, who points to the most "dangerous" asset to own. |
India's passion for gold is putting such a strain on state finances that the government may slap higher import taxes on the precious metal, but demand buoyed by heady inflation and meager savings will blunt the impact of any rise in duties. |
Often called the "lucky country" because of its rich natural resources, Australia's growth has long been funded by the commodities boom but now, economists say, there are a few other bright spots that could pick up where mining left off. |
A Chinese government crackdown on lavish spending by officials has pushed expensive liquor and high-end watches out of favor in the luxury gift-giving market, a survey from the Hurun Report, known for its annual China Rich List, showed on Tuesday. |
Toyota has dethroned General Motors as the world's top-selling automaker. The Japanese company sold 9.7 million cars and trucks worldwide in 2012, although it's still counting. GM sold 9.29 million. Both companies saw higher sales. |
There's an unexpected problem in New Delhi's high-end marriage market - there are too few "quality" men, as a growing pool of young women with unprecedented levels of education are seeking and making matches with educated men from higher socioeconomic groups. The New York Times reports. |
Third time lucky for some, could it be a case of seventh time lucky for Singapore,which has just unveiled its latest and most stringent measures to cool a sizzling property market, which has so far defied a slew of steps unveiled since 2009. |
South Korea's plan to stimulate its weak economy via government spending and policy measures depends on how China's economy performs this year, the finance minister of Asia's fourth largest economy said. |
A plan by officials in an Indonesian city to ban women from straddling motorbikes has prompted an outcry from critics, who say local leaders are infringing on women's safety and freedom in the name of religion. The New York Times reports. |
Forget a weakening economy and the prospect of further monetary easing. Here's what will keep the Aussie dollar robust in the months ahead - a rebound in commodity prices and even lower interest rates among the world's big economies. |
Eager to tap China’s movie market, Hollywood studios try to win censors’ approval — taking on Chinese partners, tweaking story lines and, when filming in China, inviting bureaucrats to the set. The New York Times reports. |
The number of international schools registered in mainland China has skyrocketed in the past 12 years as they tap into a growing market of upwardly-mobile Chinese willing to pay as much as $41,700 a year for a Western-style education and a ticket to college overseas for their children. |
The Asia-Pacific region is home to the world's freest economies, according to an index published on Thursday as Western economies grapple with too much government involvement. |
Investors sifting through analysts' new year predictions for stock market movements may want to press "delete" and look instead for sound companies, as history shows equity index forecasts are usually wrong. |
As gaming revenue in Singapore's once super-hot casino industry, which is the second biggest in Asia, slows, what does this mean for island-nation's slowing economy? |
China's one-child policy has produced less trusting, less trustworthy and less competitive children compared to the generation born before the policy was introduced, a study has found. |
Is India's economy bottoming out, or getting worse? On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings restated a "negative" outlook on India's sovereign credit rating, warning that a possible downgrade could come in the next 12 to 24 months. The NYT reports. |