SOUTH KOREA

With American businesses holding nearly $2 trillion on their books, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that a meeting with corporate executives of 20 of the largest U.S. companies will help elicit a variety of ideas to grow the economy and boost jobs amid an anemic recovery.

African football club TP Mazembe created history on Tuesday by becoming the first African side to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final after upsetting Brazilian club Internacional with a 2-0 win in Abu Dhabi.

Some of the so-called emerging markets have advanced to a point where they might be considered “developed” -- or not, depending on one’s views and criteria. Further complicating this picture is the arrival of “frontier” markets – countries even less developed than the emerging markets, but boasting even greater long-term growth potential.

As Congress considers a broad tax deal proposed by President Barack Obama and Republicans, high tech and manufacturing businesses are particularly favorable to a provision that would extend research and development tax credits.

Japan will lower the corporate tax rate by 4.5 percent to spur the economy out of deflation, Nikkei reported on Tuesday.

Japanese business gave a guarded welcome on Tuesday to the cash-strapped government's plan to cut corporate taxes, saying more support was needed to help them create jobs and compete with regional rivals.

Morgan Stanley will shut down its real estate investment operations in South Korea by the end of the year to focus on other Asian markets, sources close to the company said on Tuesday.

Galileo Global Advisors CEO Georges Ugeux speaks to IBTimes about investing in Asia outside the scope of public markets.

At least 22 fishermen are feared to be killed after a South Korean trawler sank suddenly in the waters off Antarctica on Monday. Reports suggest that the incident took place after the ship, No. 1 InSung, collided with an iceberg. The ship sank even before it could send a SOS message, approximately 30 minutes into the accident, and officials state that the men onboard had no chance of getting into their protective gear.

Asian stocks rose on Monday as investors took in their stride China's latest attempt to cool inflation and fresh vows to tackle price pressure, while upbeat U.S. economic data helped

The Obama administration is seeking to give its allies and U.S. exporters a boost, proposing new rules that will ease trade in items that could prove to be security risks if they fell into the wrong hands.

Dictatorships are faster and more efficient than democracies, which can be bogged down by long-drawn out debates among deeply polarized political parties who can't seem to agree on anything.

South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak, stated that reunification with North Korea would 'definitely' take place. His statement also comes close to Wikileaks revelations that suggested that North's biggest ally China is reportedly backing a plan for reunification. A leaked diplomatic cable sent out to Washington by US diplomats maintained that South Korean officials would press for reunification but precisely, under their control.

Consumer electronics maker Panasonic Corp said on Friday it sees no strong recovery in year-end sales in North America and Europe, but expects to pull its loss-making TV unit into the black in the January-March quarter.

Why did China avoid a steep recession and bounced back relatively quickly? The answer is its massive fiscal stimulus, according to Richard Koo.

Production at one of Toshiba Corp's key chip factories has been halted by a brief cut in power, the company said, hitting output of NAND flash memory used in tablet computers and smartphones.

Sprint Nextel Corp plans to expand its tablet computer portfolio in 2011 to court business customers looking to replace expensive laptop computers with the lower cost devices, according to a top executive for the No. 3 U.S. mobile operator.

Production at one of Toshiba Corp's key chip factories has been halted by a brief cut in power, the company said, hitting its output of NAND flash memory and likely helping rivals such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics.

South Korea chose to freeze its key interest rates on Thursday, after hiking rates twice this year, as the global economic recovery slows down and tensions rise on the border.

The government of South Korea is trying to drum up foreign direct investments through free economic zones (FEZ), or areas that offer financial incentives for foreign investments.

In a conference on Wednesday in mid-town Manhattan, The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) presented reasons why South Korea makes for an attractive investment candidate for foreigners.