SOUTH KOREA

Android currently enjoys almost half of the global Smartphone market, versus 19 percent for Apple.

POSCO <005490.KS>, the world's third-biggest steelmaker and backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, cut its 2011 investment plan and painted an uncertain outlook after posting a consensus-meeting profit for the third quarter.

POSCO <005490.KS>, the world's third-biggest steelmaker and backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, posted a 5.9 percent rise in profit for the third quarter, meeting consensus, thanks to higher sales volume and prices.

The U.S. Senate, on a bipartisan vote of 74-26 on Thursday, confirmed former energy company executive John Bryson as commerce secretary, despite the objection of some Republicans due to his background as an environmentalist.

Italian oil group Eni said on Thursday it had made a giant natural gas discovery off Mozambique, the biggest in its history, confirming expectations that East Africa is set to emerge as a major gas exporter after recent finds.

Canada will sign contracts with shipyards in Nova Scotia and British Columbia under a C$35 billion ($35 billion) shipbuilding program, the largest in the NATO country's history.

The 24th Tokyo International Film Festival kicks off Saturday with a diverse slate of art house and mainstream fare, but the biggest theme at the annual event may be the country's real-life struggle to recover from the massive March earthquake and tsunami.

China's economic growth will probably cool next year to the lowest annual rate in a decade, setting the pace for an Asia-wide slowdown as global demand fades, a Reuters poll released on Thursday showed.

China's economic growth will probably cool next year to the lowest annual rate in a decade, setting the pace for an Asia-wide slowdown as global demand fades, a Reuters poll released on Thursday showed.

Panasonic Corp will reduce plasma TV panel production and cut up to several thousand jobs, as its loss-making television unit struggles to compete with Asian rivals, domestic media reported on Thursday.

The jury in Rambus Inc's $4 billion antitrust lawsuit against Micron Technology Inc and Hynix Semiconductor Inc is reviewing more testimony from the trial in its fifth week of deliberations.

Airplane maker Boeing predicted Tuesday that more sales cancellations were on the horizon for its Dreamliner 787 after a Chinese airline cancelled orders, however they expect large growth in the next 20 years in the Northeast Asia market.

South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co., which has so far been on the defensive in its ongoing patent battle with Apple Inc., has finally launched an attack of its own on its Cupertino-based rival.

The Gunners host the Black Cats on Sunday.

Two beleaguered coaches meet Sunday, as Arsenal hosts Sunderland at Emirates Stadium in a battle of underachieving squads.

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors put strong pressure on euro zone leaders at a two-day meeting in Paris to come up with a convincing solution to the bloc's debt crisis and avert the risk of a fresh global recession.

Yarns, made of the tiny straws of carbon called nanotubes, have an astounding ability to twist as they contract, according to scientists. The effect, reported in Science, is similar to the action of muscles found in elephant trunks and squid tentacles.

The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) reduced its forecast for the country’s economic growth this year to 4.58 percent from its previous 5.02 percent estimate.

South African stocks rose more than 1 percent on Friday, capping their best weekly performance in six weeks, as shares of Kumba Iron Ore and other resource firms gained after data from China boosted hopes of greater demand from the country.

President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday hailed a long-sought trade deal as an engine for job creation in both countries and presented a united front in the North Korean nuclear standoff.

Hyundai Oilbank, South Korea's smallest crude oil refiner, has narrowed down a group of banks to handle its up to $2 billion IPO planned for early next year, with Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Citigroup among the firms selected, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.