UNITED STATES

Soybean futures increased on Friday on concern that China, the world's largest consumer of vegetable oils, will increase imports in an effort to control rising prices for food in the country.

The yen rose against the dollar and euro on Friday as investor moved away from stocks and high yielding currencies.

U.S. stocks fell for a second day on Friday, with the tech and financial sector leading the decline as investors considered weak economic data that was released earlier this week. Indexes tumbled on Thursday after a weak regional manufacturing report added to concerns that the economy is headed for a recession, if not already in one.

Recent signs that the world's biggest economy may be sliding into recession unsettled European and Asian stocks on Friday, and helped push the dollar to a near three-week low versus a basket of currencies.

EU and U.S. senior officials said on Friday they would crack down on counterfeiting of computer components after they seized over 360,000 fake items in just two weeks in a joint operation at the end of last year.

Top U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy Co, facing stagnant sales at home, said on Friday it would ramp up its expansion in China but would not grow through partnerships with local rivals. Best Buy will invest substantially and open a large number of stores in China in the next five years, and will launch online sales in the country in the next 24 months.

Thousands of Turkish troops have crossed into northern Iraq in their hunt for Kurdish PKK guerrillas, a senior military source said on Friday, in an escalation of a conflict that could destabilize the region.

The beef industry is putting pressure on U.S. agriculture regulators to reduce the scale of a massive recall initiated this week, according to a report.

Japan stocks dropped sharply Friday affected by U.S. weakening economy and upward trend of yen currency.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's adoption of Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt has been formally made official by a Los Angeles court, according to news reports.

China has appealed to the United States for fair and legal treatment of a Chinese investment in US communications equipment company 3Com after the deal caused the United States national security concerns.

Copper prices rose on Thursday as investors' demand for commodities increased to protect investments against inflation.

Oil prices slumped from a $101.32 record high on Thursday after the U.S. government reported crude inventories rose last week for their sixth straight increase.

Gold futures rose to a new record of $958.40 an ounce on Thursday on a weakening dollar which boosted the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge. Platinum and silver also hit new record highs.

The tender offer, a speedier mechanism to buy a public company, is being increasingly used to structure takeovers. But some caution that the route won't necessarily produce a top-dollar bid for shareholders. Tender offers allow bidders to go direct to shareholders with or without support from a target company's board, as opposed to a merger, in which a buyer will typically negotiate an agreement with the target that is then subject to board and stockholder approval.

The dollar slipped on Thursday, still weighed down by minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting, which affirmed expectations of further U.S. interest rate cuts.

Gold and platinum set historic highs in choppy trade on Thursday, with strong oil prices, a struggling dollar and supply worries boosting investor interest.

The leaders of the two top parties in Pakistan's recent election meet on Thursday to discuss forming a coalition government that could force President Pervez Musharraf out of power. Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 military coup in the nuclear-armed country and has been one of Washington's top Muslim allies against al Qaeda, is vulnerable to a hostile parliament after his supporters were heavily defeated in Monday's election.

Europe's biggest insurer, Allianz , is axing hundreds of jobs at its Dresdner Kleinwort investment bank and slashing its complex structured finance business, after suffering big fourth-quarter writedowns.

Reed Elsevier announced the acquisition of U.S. risk-management business ChoicePoint Inc for $4.1 billion including debt alongside its results, as well as a renewed cost-savings drive and the planned sale of an advertising-dependent information business. Shares in Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed, which have outperformed the DJ Stoxx European media sector by 5 percent over the past year, jumped 6 percent to 619 pence on the news on Thursday.

College student Li Aihua wears his tattered, grungy Li Ning basketball sneakers with pride.