IBT Staff Reporter

Nicknamed the hooligan of British fashion for his close-cropped hair, trademark Doc Marten boots and shocking catwalk collections, McQueen rose from teenage trainee tailor to runway darling before the age of 30. He had been expected to unveil his new collection at Paris Fashion Week in March.

Lindsey Vonn turned to Twitter and Facebook to give fans reassuring news about the state of her troublesome shin on Thursday, in a further sign that these Games are turning into the social network Olympics.

Stocks held onto early losses on Friday as consumer sentiment slipped in early February and government data showed business inventories fell unexpectedly.

As global investors are still grappling with the Greece bailout situation, China surprised the world with yet another bank reserve ratio hike.

It narrowly beat amore, the Italian word for love, although Italian was named the world's most romantic language.

Foreign automakers enjoying success in China may be gearing up to take on local players in the high-volume but competitive low-end market, following General Motors' recent roll-out of a model priced as low $8,300.

Toyota Motor Corp's safety recalls will hurt U.S. dealer sales in the first quarter but payments from Toyota for the repairs will offset any dealer losses over the rest of the year, two major U.S. auto dealership groups said on Thursday.

Volkswagen is recalling close to 200,000 units of its Novo Gol and Novo Voyage models built in Brazil for the local market, VW's third-largest, due to insufficient grease in rear wheel bearings in some cases.

Japan's Honda Motor Co's Indian car unit has revived plans for production at its second plant in India due to a surge in sales last year, a senior company official said.

Toyota is aiming its Canadian advertising dollars at reassuring existing customers worried by the company's recent safety woes, rather than winning new buyers, even though the move may hurt February sales numbers, a top Toyota Canada executive said on Thursday.

Shareholders in Spyker have approved the $74 million purchase of Swedish automaker Saab from General Motors, Chief Executive Victor Muller said on Friday.

American International Group Inc turned down JPMorgan's attempts to get in on the estimated $10 billion Hong Kong IPO of its Asian life insurance unit, sources involved with the deal said on Friday, in a snub partly stemming from soured relations dating back to the financial crisis.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp shareholders approved the No. 2 U.S. railroad company's takeover by Berkshire Hathaway Inc, clearing the way for the largest acquisition of billionaire investor Warren Buffett to be completed on Friday.

Merger and acquisition activity in the mining sector is likely to pick up pace in 2010 as producers shift their focus from cutting costs to driving growth in a recovering global economy, according to a report released on Thursday.

E-learning software maker SkillSoft Plc said it agreed to be acquired by a consortium of private equity firms for about $1.1 billion.

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Trying to renew your romance this Valentine's weekend, or surprise a new partner with a gasp-inducing getaway? Boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith have rounded up a list of the top 10 sexiest hotel bedrooms.

U.S. investor Warren Buffett has become the biggest single shareholder in the world's largest reinsurer Munich Re and could soon hold 7 percent of the company.

Wall Street was poised to open lower on Friday after China surprised global markets by increasing banks' reserve requirements, raising worries about the impact of eventual monetary tightening on global growth.

Talks have started on a possible merger between Spain's Telefonica and its smaller partner Telecom Italia, Italian sources close to the matter said.

Shareholders of South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor took another bruising as they failed at a third attempt to sell part of their $3.1 billion controlling stake in the world's No. 2 memory chipmaker.

China Datang Corp, the country's second-largest power producer, plans to float shares of its renewable energy unit in a Hong Kong IPO, which is expected to raise at least $1 billion, sources close to the deal said.

President Barack Obama's economic adviser, Paul Volcker, said his proposed banking rules would force Goldman Sachs and other banks to give up their bank charters if they want to continue proprietary trading.

In the annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vancouver scored 98 percent on a combination of stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure -- a score unchanged from last year.

Surveys indicate that calls to abandon the bills, the product of six months of tough compromise among Obama's ruling Democrats, could boost support for Republicans as they look toward November's congressional elections.

European stock indices are losing steam before the opening of the U.S. session as member nations reported less than stellar Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers and news of China tightening shook world markets.

At next week's mobile trade show in Barcelona you can find a program that measures how high you can throw a Nokia smartphone, an apt metaphor for Nokia's efforts to raise its game.

Stock index futures fell on Friday after China surprised global markets by increasing banks' reserve requirements, raising worries about the impact of eventual monetary tightening on global growth.

South Korea aims to set up a global grain purchasing and distribution company that can better insulate the country from fallout from global price hikes. According to state-run agriculture trading corporation, Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp, the plan calls for the new grain handling company to set up an international distribution network in the next 10 years.

The 1200 km long Baltic natural gas project received its final approval Friday as Finland gave permission to the $10.6 billion project. Finnish environmental department gave permission for the project, paving the way for construction of the between Russia and Germany. The southern Finnish Regional State Administrative Agency said that it had granted Nord Stream a permit to build the pipeline through Finland's economic zone in the Baltic Sea.