Umm Qasr, Iraq (CNN) – A former U.S. military detention facility in Iraq could play a major role in making the city of Basra a link for commerce between Asia and Europe.

Basra is Iraq's second largest city, and the main town in the oil rich South. Oppressed and neglected for years under the rule of Saddam Hussein, it could now be set for a revival.

Camp Bucca was once a U.S. military detention facility. Now the Kufan group - an Iraqi-owned development company - wants to turn it into massive a logistics hub called Basra Logistics City.

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Hong Kong (CNN) - Dismissed by many Western sceptics, the ancient philosophy of Feng Shui plays a key role in shaping life in Hong Kong.

CNN's Richard Quest reports on the theory's impact on architecture, business and lifestyles in the territory.

Hong Kong (CNN) - The men’s magazine FHM has come under fire again after a saucy cover of Filipina actress Bela Padilla was claimed as racist.

The cover shows fair-skinned Padilla coming forward of a group of dark-skinned Filipina models with the caption, “Bela Padilla stepping out of the shadows.”

Padilla is not the first case of Asian FHM covers launching controversies. In December last year, Pakistani actress Veena Malik (shown above) appeared on the Indian edition of FHM, wearing nothing but the tattoo bearing the initials ISI, the acronym for the Pakistan’s inter-services Intelligence agency.

Malik said that that FHM doctored the cover to show her without clothes. FHM India said Malik was aware of the conditions and approved the photographs.

The local FHM publisher in the Philippines, Summit Media, dumped the March cover in favor of a less controversial Padilla shot after the company previewed the racy cover on its Facebook page last Saturday, triggering heated reaction on social media and the magazine’s website.
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New York (CNN) – News that James Murdoch was stepping down as executive chairman of News International was met with a collective yawn on Wall Street.

It is not that analysts don’t care about the phone hacking scandal, but in terms of impacting News Corp stock, most believe the probe is a distraction, not a problem that threatens long-term profits.

“I have a buy rating on the stock, it is my top pick in the space,” says Michael Morris, co-director of research at Virginia based Davenport & Company.

“I have been bullish on the banged up media companies, and News Corp’s business is not well understood. The discount it (the stock) is getting because of the Murdoch concerns presents a great investment opportunity,” says Morris, who has covered News Corp for years.
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