TOYOTA

Asian stock markets slumped Friday as renewed concerns over euro zone crisis and lackluster economic data from US dented investor sentiment.

Asian stock markets tumbled on Friday, following an overnight slump on Wall Street as weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data and a deepening euro zone crisis dampened sentiment.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) rocked the automotive and advertising worlds with its announcement Tuesday that it will stop buying advertisements on Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), a value of roughly $10 million a year, on the eve of social networking site's monster IPO. The rest of the automotive industry's major players are not following suit, though, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), banking on the strength of the network effect, is actually upping its investment.

Google is getting serious about its self-driving car technology campaign. In an effort to make the driverless car legal on U.S. roads, the Mountain View, Calif. based company was spotted showing off the robo-prius on the streets of Washington, D.C. - just one day after Nevada became the first state to legalize autonomous vehicles.

Anti-austerity momentum in Greece continued to weigh down markets with the prospect of the country defaulting or leaving the euro. Spain?s Ibex 35 Index lost 3 percent, led by bank stocks, while its 10-year yields rose more than 6 percent over banking-sector concerns.

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) reported a 30 percent drop in income for its fiscal year ended March 31, but the company is nevertheless making headway down the road to recovery from last year's earthquake in Japan and floods in Thailand as income for January-March 2012 increased by a factor of five.

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday that its net profit for the three months ending March 31 surged five times compared to a year earlier as the car market picked up in the US.

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) debuted the new 2012 RAV4 EV on Monday in Los Angeles at the 26th annual Electric Vehicle Symposium. The new electric RAV4 will have a range of approximately 100 miles with a charging time of roughly 6 hours, but the high price of $49,800 MSRP could leave some would-by buyers shocked.

NASCAR driver Eric McClure is in stable condition after a hospitalization that resulted from a crash Saturday during the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. The accident, caught on video, happened after McClure skidded in a chain-reaction crash that caused him to hit an inside wall head-on.

Asian stock markets declined Monday after election results from Greece and France fueled concerns about Europe reviving the debt crisis.

Asian stock markets plunged Monday as weaker-than-expected US employment report and election results from Europe weighed on investor sentiment.

Asian stock markets ended higher on Wednesday as upbeat U.S. manufacturing data eased worries that the world's biggest economy had lost momentum at the start of the second quarter.

The Asian stock market advanced on Wednesday as sentiment was buoyed following the release of improved manufacturing data in both the U.S. and China.

U.S. light vehicle sales increased 2 percent in April to 1.2 million cars on continued high demand for fuel-efficient cars, and sales are projected to continue at a strong clip, maintaining an annualized rate of 14.4 million.

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) U.S. April sales rose 11.6 percent, despite fewer selling days than the previous year, as consumer demand for hybrid vehicles like the Camry Hybrid and Prius remained high, the company reported Tuesday.

A small riot took place last night, Monday April 30, in the Mission district of San Francisco a day before plans headed by the Occupy Wall Street movement to bring May Day general strikes and celebrations to the US. The riot was carried out by around 50-100 protesters who marched through the trendy neighborhood smashing windows, throwing paint at store fronts and tagging signs with Anarchist slogans.

Japanese stock markets plunged Tuesday as weaker-than-expected US manufacturing data and news that confirmed Spain has fallen into a double-dip recession weighed on the sentiment.

At least six people were killed in Nigeria on Thursday morning when suspected members of the Boko Haram rebel group attacked offices of ThisDay Newspapers.

Partial paraplegics can control a robot using thought, according to a demonstration at Switzerland's Federal Institute of Technology on Tuesday.

Orders for long-lasting goods sank in March by the largest margin in three years, hurt by falling demand for commercial aircraft, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Asian stock markets advanced Wednesday as signs of an improvement in the US housing market and better-than-expected quarterly earnings from corporate majors buoyed sentiment.