CHINA

ING Group NV completed the sale of its Asian private banking unit to Singapore's OCBC, the biggest deal in the private banking sector since the financial crisis.

Toyota Motor Corp faced scrutiny from Congress over its biggest ever safety recall as rival Honda Motor Co, tipped to gain from Toyota's woes, also said it would recall thousands of cars worldwide.

World number one air bag and seatbelt maker Autoliv expects sales will rise strongly this year on demand from China and North America, as it posted above-forecast fourth-quarter earnings, sending its shares higher.

General Motors Corp announced plans on Friday to spend 15 billion baht ($455 million) in Thailand over the next two years, reviving plans for a new diesel-engine plant and retooling existing production lines.

Toyota Motor Corp faced scrutiny from Congress over its biggest ever safety recall as investors, suppliers and consumers weighed the impact of an unprecedented halt in U.S. production by the No.1 automaker.

Samsung Electronics expects rapidly recovering demand for its premium computer memory chips and flat screen TVs to drive growth this year, with the unwinding of global stimulus measures the key risk for sales.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.2 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.4 percent at 3:17 a.m..

Stocks in Asia tumbled on Friday, hurt by weak technology and resources shares and fresh worries about Greece's debt levels, which dragged the euro to a six-month low against the dollar.

North Korea is not near collapse and leader Kim Jong-il has recovered from his illnesses, but the destitute state is hurting from U.N. sanctions imposed for its nuclear test, South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak said.

Angry crowds mobbed three food distribution sites in Haiti's capital on Thursday, the latest handouts to turn chaotic as aid groups struggle to help the throngs left desperate and hungry by the catastrophic earthquake.

McDonald's Corp. , the world's largest hamburger chain, said on Friday that it expects to boost its capital investment in China by about 25 percent in 2010.

Investor concern about tightening lending conditions in China and deteriorating finances in Greece and Japan led them to pull cash out of developed market equity funds for debt funds in the week ended January 27, fund tracker EPFR Global said late on Thursday.

Congressional investigators on Thursday sought documents on Thursday from Toyota Motor Corp and U.S. safety regulators about a pair of safety recalls the automaker was racing to address.

U.S. stocks dropped on Thursday as poor outlooks from Motorola and Qualcomm dented optimism in the technology sector while worries about Greece's fiscal health dragged on sentiment.

(Corrects paragraph 6 to read Fears that Athens ... and not News that Athens ... regarding ability to service debt)

Ford Motor Co posted its first full-year profit since 2005 on Thursday and said it expects to stay profitable in 2010 despite a still-fragile economy and a debt-heavy balance sheet.

Stocks dropped on Thursday as poor outlooks from Motorola and Qualcomm dented optimism in the technology sector while worries about Greece's fiscal health dragged on sentiment.

California and Florida high-speed rail projects were the biggest beneficiaries of more than $8 billion dollars in federal grants announced on Thursday.

Stocks dropped on Thursday as poor outlooks from Motorola and Qualcomm dented optimism in the technology sector while worries about Greece's fiscal health dragged on sentiment.

Top policymakers warned on Thursday the world economy is not out of the woods and a global recovery is still far from secure, urging caution as central banks work on withdrawing critical support.

President Barack Obama's job-creation program could produce a short-term political boost, but it's unlikely to significantly stem job losses and reduce the unemployment rate anytime soon, according to economists.