JAPAN

Global stocks rose to seven week highs on Friday led by bank shares after talks on U.S. banking reform collapsed, while speculation the Bank of Japan may soon ease monetary policy weighed on the yen.

U.S. stock index futures were modestly higher on Friday, a day after the S&P hit a 17-month closing high and ahead of reports that could give clues into the strength of the American consumer.

Flat-screen maker LG Display will spend $1.3 billion to raise output and help meet robust customer demand and is betting on booming premium LCD TV sales to drive strong growth this year.

Asian stocks edged up on Friday, heading for a fifth straight week of gains, with energy stocks outperforming as oil held above $82 a barrel.

Investing in a high-speed Internet network would open up a new global trade route for Britain, boosting economic recovery and creating thousands of jobs, the opposition Conservative party said on Thursday.

Two years ago, a poisonous brew of bad economics, lax regulation, and egregious behavior boiled over, scalding the financial system and pitching the United States into its steepest downturn since the Great Depression.

Daihatsu Motor Co, a unit of Toyota Motor Corp, said on Thursday it would recall more than 274,000 Hijet and Atrai wagon models in Japan to fix a loose knuckle joint in the front wheels.

The South Korean bourse on Thursday approved an estimated $4 billion IPO by leading life insurer Samsung Life Insurance, paving the way for what is likely to be the country's biggest share float in May.

Trying to guess when the Bank of Japan will make its next policy move? For now, try watching the yen.

In a tunnel deep beneath Shenyang's busy streets, Lu Ze flicked a switch and a lone light bulb revealed a cluttered concrete floor.

A spike in Chinese inflation weakened equity markets on Thursday, as investors pondered the prospects of interest rate hikes in one of the world's main economic drivers.

Toyota Motor said on Thursday it has handed over to a U.S. congressional committee a letter sent to its management by a splinter union in 2006 seeking reforms to improve safety after a recall crisis at the time.

The U.S. dollar is still the most important world currency, Standard & Poor's said on Thursday, but added that rising levels of U.S. debt and dependence on foreigners to finance much of pose risks to the currency's primacy.

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as investors worried strong loan growth and quickening inflation in China would spur Beijing to tighten monetary policy sooner than expected, while the yen rebounded against major currencies.

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as investors fretted over tighter monetary policy in China on the back of strong loan growth and quickening inflation, while the yen struggled amid signs that Japan's economy may need more support.

While James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic Avatar took the box office by storm instantly, the road to success will be much longer for Best Buy Co Inc, which is making a big bet on 3D televisions this year.

OPEC released its Monthly Oil Market Report on Wednesday. Although the March report projected higher demand for oil than the February report, OPEC remains cautious as key global economic issues remain unresolved.

* Yen slips amid Japan monetary easing expectations * Pound weakened by surprise drop in industrial output * Euro up vs dollar; Greece comments add to positive view (Recasts, updates prices, adds comment, byline)

In the paper published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, papaya leaf extract has been found to boost the production of key signaling molecules called Th1-type cytokines that suggests potential therapeutic abilities that use the immune system to fight cancers in addition to its direct antitumour effect on various cancers.

With economic policy stimuli already at full tilt, no government wants an overvalued exchange rate to slay recovery, and the rival soft currency needs are producing some elaborate rhetorical jousting.

Telecom firms risk losing a key revenue stream to rivals like Google by leaving valuable customer client data largely untapped and hesitating to invest extra cash to leverage customer information.