Oregon could plot to revive its season with victories at ranked rival Oregon State and in the Pacific-12 championship game.

WSJ: Baylor Tops Kansas State, Stanford Tops Oregon: Enjoy College Football Upsets While You Can

This was however largely offset by sales in the U.S. which showed signs of returning to strength and the emerging markets in Asia-Pacific which showed a strong y-o-y growth of 12%.

FORBES: Cisco Rides U.S. And Asia Growth To $23.50

Here we highlight 12 of our 48 Heroes of Philanthropy, one each from 12 Asia-Pacific regions.

FORBES: In Pictures: Asia's Heroes Of Philanthropy

He also informed us of a 42 percent uptick (year-over-year) in Asia-Pacific, not to mention a 12 percent increase in US education Mac sales (which marked the highest ever in this category).

ENGADGET: Apple reports fiscal Q4 earnings: $1.67b profit, Mac sales way up, iPod sales down, 'great new products' for 2010

You'll recognize some of the companies on this year's select list of ten--Hooper Holmes, Jakks Pacific, ResMed, Shuffle Master--because they're among our 12 Companies To Watch (pp. 240-276).

FORBES: The Hot Ones

France, who have beaten Argentina 12-6 and the Pacific Islands 42-17 in their autumn Tests to date, (although the latter did not count towards the rankings), could also move into the top four if they beat Australia on Saturday and results elsewhere go in their favour.

BBC: England drop to fifth in rankings

In his four years as commissioner, Larry Scott has transformed the stately, sleepy Pacific-10 Conference into the big-business Pac-12, expanding the conference and quadrupling its annual television-rights revenue.

WSJ: Pac-12's Larry Scott Is the Highest Paid College Commissioner

To date, only 12 of 44 countries in the Asia-Pacific region have ratified the 2005 Convention.

UNESCO: THEMES

The company said its Asia-Pacific sales plunged 26%, and North American sales fell 12%.

FORBES: Why Stocks Face Most Critical Test Since 2007

FedEx and Caterpillar, bellwethers for global economic strength, both warned of significantly slowing global sales, Caterpillar reporting its Asia-Pacific sales plunged 26%, and North American sales fell 12% from December through February.

FORBES: Forget About The Fed Dialing Back QE3, Buy Bonds

Pacific Crest analyst Chad Bartlev this morning cut his 2012 forecast for Kindle e-reader sales to 12.3 million units to 24 million, asserting that his latest checks find that Q1 Kindle component orders have fallen more than 75% from initial expectations in early January.

FORBES: Amazon: Kindle Demand Weakening? Pac Crest Cuts Views