SOUTH KOREA

Fans and investors are anticipating a major week for Apple as the company is expected to post huge profits on Monday, followed by a highly anticipated new product launch this Wednesday.

South Korea's foreign minister said on Friday he wants to see dormant international talks on ending North Korea's nuclear arms programme resume in February without Pyongyang attaching conditions to its return.

Asian stock markets skidded on Friday and commodity prices fell across the board after U.S. President Barack Obama proposed new restrictions on banks that spurred selling of risky assets.

U.S. carmaker General Motors will close its Opel plant in the Belgian port city of Antwerp, sources said on Wednesday, slamming the door on hopes to save the jobs of the site's 2,300 staff.

Japan has changed its auto replacement incentive program to give U.S. cars more chance to qualify after the United States complained its automakers were shut out, the Japanese government said on Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics will pay nearly $900 million over the next 5 years to license technology from Rambus Inc. as part of a settlement ending the companies' long term dispute.

U.S. carmaker General Motors GM.UL will close its Opel plant in the Belgian port city of Antwerp, sources said on Wednesday, slamming the door on hopes to save the jobs of the site's 2,300 staff.

Giant oil company Chevron Corp plans to restructure its refinery operations, cutting some jobs and exiting some markets, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

Leading LCD makers in South Korea and Taiwan are headed for a robust first half this year on improving demand for flat screen TVs, but performance for the last quarter of 2009 is likely to be hit by seasonal weakness and a strong currency.

Motorola Inc is planning to launch five to six smartphones in China this year with one model ready to be unveiled shortly, officials of the U.S. mobile phone maker said on Monday.

Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea's top automaker, said it planned to raise investment by 12 percent this year to its largest ever to develop eco-friendly models, and as it aims to boost global sales volume by 17 percent.

North Korea threatened on Friday to cut off all dialogue with the South in a move that could raise tension on the peninsula and cloud the efforts of regional powers to push Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.

Technology shares jumped in Asia on Friday after better-than-expected earnings from sector bellwether Intel, but stocks elsewhere in the region were largely subdued amid fresh doubts about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

Most Asian stocks gave up early gains on Friday as weak U.S. retail sales and a rise in jobless claims made investors wary about the strength of its economic recovery, offsetting better-than-expected earnings from technology bellwether Intel.

Lotte Group, which operates South Korea's second-largest retailer Lotte Shopping, said it was considering buying GS Retail's department store and discount store operations.

Japanese retailer Ministop, South Korea's Lotte Group and U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group will make final bids for South Korean retailer Buy The Way on Friday, two sources said.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.11 percent, Dow Jones futures unchanged and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.11 percent at 4 a.m. EST.

It took only a few weeks of research for Romanian entrepreneur Emi Gal to decide where to base his digital media firm, and his choice confounds a fairly enduring set of stereotypes about Britain's global appeal.

North Korea will not return to nuclear disarmament negotiations unless the United States agrees to peace treaty talks and lifts sanctions, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Tuesday, leaving little room for compromise.

Japanese schoolchildren often hold hanseikai, or reflection talks, to discuss what they did wrong during a play or a sports meet.

South Korea's LG Chem Co Ltd will sell rechargeable batteries for hybrid cars to Ford Motor Co from 2012, with the annual sales estimated to reach 500 billion won ($447 million), local media said on Monday.