Hong Kong

(Newser) - A plane flight could soon be a big gamble. Airbus is considering turning some of its super-jumbo jets into airborne casinos, Breitbart reports. The hulking A380 passenger plane is the world's largest, boasting 50% more floor space than Boeing's 747. That's the kind of space that's needed for a mile-high casino, which Airbus says could premiere as soon as 2012. More »

(Newser) - European markets opened higher on the heels of a mining and technology stock rally in Asia and a positive close on Wall Street Friday, reports the AP. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged 8.1%, in part on news in state-run papers that the snow emergency in China was overblown. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 3.8%, Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 2.7 %, and markets in South Korea and India were also up strongly at the close. More »

(Newser) - European stocks followed declines in Asian markets as news of more subprime woes overshadowed an anticipated 50 basis point rate cut from the Federal Reserve and some positive economic data from the US, AFP reports. London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.85%, the Paris CAC was off 1.54%, Frankfort’s DAX 30 dipped 0.67% and the Euro Stoxx 50 was off 0.80%. More »

(Newser) - Stocks continued their downward march today, with the Dow off 139.41 points by midmorning, up from a 228.75-point dive at the opening bell.  Seeming to shrug off yesterday’s huge emergency rate cut from the Fed, investors are acting on fears of recession, and focusing on disappointing earnings from Apple and Motorola. The S&P and Nasdaq were down 17.10 and 41.89 points respectively, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

(Newser) - Asian markets bounced back modestly this morning after two days of precipitous drops. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 10.72%, Japan's Nikkei average rose 2%, and the Topix index was up 2.5%. Sydney's index closed 4.4% higher, breaking a 12-day downturn, and India's Sensitive index saw its first gains in 8 days as traders expressed cautious optimism More »

(Newser) - Jitters over the US economy led to a major sell-off in Asian markets for the second straight day, with Australia's benchmark index closing down 7.1%—the biggest single-day loss in nearly 20 years. India's Sensex index skidded 10%, triggering a shutdown, but rallied to close down 4.6%. Japan's Nikkei and the broader Topix index finished 5.7% lower, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slumped 8.7% the day after global indexes suffered their biggest plunge since 9/11. More »

(Newser) - Markets across Asia and Europe fell sharply today on fears of a looming US recession and a lack of confidence in Bush’s $145 billion economic rescue plan, reports Bloomberg. Japan's Nikkei was off 3.9% and the Hong Kong Seng Index fell 3.5%, the most since Sept. 11, 2001. In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 slid 5.6% by midday. More »

(Newser) - Brothers Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer, founders of ring tone company Jamba, have just joined Microsoft and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing as major investors in US based social networking company Facebook. Though the Samwers' haven't disclosed the exact size of their investment, they told Der Spiegel  it was "significant," but smaller than Microsoft's $240 million. More »

(Newser) - Reacting to years of pro-democracy rallies in Hong Kong, China agreed today to let the territory elect a leader in 2017 and a legislature in 2020, BBC reports. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang had lobbied Beijing for elections by 2012, but hailed today's news as a "hard-earned opportunity." Activists, however, were outraged over the decade-long delay, AFP reports. More »

(Newser) - With this sort of room service, why leave the hotel at all? Forbes lists eight hotels that are stand-outs for room service offerings: Fo