Filipino Directory

A new study found that more than two-thirds of the world's millionaires are affiliated with a religion, with more than half identified as Christians.

A video taken from a skyscraper shows fireworks bursting from dozens of locations throughout the Philippine capital city?s metro area at midnight on January 1. Frank Scheungel of Amadeus Photography recorded the two-minute video from the tallest building in the city, according to GMA News.

The characteristics [of] a society that are necessary for commercial success in technology do not exist in Russia?and those characteristics are social and legal and political and economic.

Japan?s estimated number of newborn babies last year fell to 1.001 million, the lowest figure on record, further contributing to the ageing and shrinking of the country?s population, official data showed Thursday.

China cracked down on foreign businesses, raising fears of xenophobia and economic nationalism. Authorities raided many firms, ostensibly for violating a six-year-old anti-monopoly law: Microsoft, Qualcomm, Daimler, Audi, Mercedes Benz, and a dozen Japanese auto-parts makers. They fined the British pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline $465m for bribing Chinese doctors and hospital officials to sell its drugs.

Low prices are excellent news for oil consumers in places like Japan or the US, where gasoline is the cheapest it's been in years. But it's a different story for nations reliant on oil sales. Russia's economy is facing a potential meltdown. Venezuela is facing serious unrest.

Six years after its financial system nearly sank and nearly that long since the recession ended, the United States is expected to grow in 2015 at its fastest pace in a decade. Its expansion from July through September ? a 5 percent annual rate ? was the swiftest for any quarter since 2003.

Demand is low because of weak economic activity, increased efficiency, and a growing switch away from oil to other fuels. America has become the world?s largest oil producer. Though it does not export crude oil, it now imports much less, creating a lot of spare supply.

Published this year, hand-picked by Fortune staffers, consider this a recommended reading guide that should last you into the holidays and beyond.

Over the past year, Putin challenged the West and upended the existing international order with the first forceful change of borders since World War II. And with the costs only now becoming apparent, 2015 is shaping up to be one of the most consequential in Russia's post-Soviet history.