As China signs global deals to export its nuclear power technology, it faces a huge obstacle: it still needs to show it can build and safely operate these reactors at home.

China's Fosun International (0656.HK) has bought a 5 percent stake in Thomas Cook Group (TCG.L), deepening its foray into Europe's tourism sector and potentially helping the British company to compete with travel leviathan TUI Group (TUIT.L)

Egypt's cabinet approved a long-awaited draft law on investment on Wednesday aimed at making deals less vulnerable to legal disputes or changes in government, and reducing stifling bureaucracy.

Brent crude oil rose to around $61 a barrel on Friday as fighting in Libya and Iraq stoked output worries, while traders kept a close eye on Iran nuclear talks that could eventually bring more supply to world markets.

Iran said oil prices would not rise above $60 a barrel until 2016 and that it would increase crude exports if Western sanctions over its nuclear program were lifted, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Friday.

Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain's childhood home in Washington state is on sale for $400,000, complete with drawings he made on the bedroom wall, a realtor said on Wednesday.

Costco Wholesale Corp is working toward eliminating the sale of chicken and meat from other animals raised with antibiotics that are vital to fighting human infections, senior executives at the third-largest U.S. retailer told Reuters on Thursday.

Amazon.com Inc has opened an online store on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's fast-growing online marketplace, Tmall.com as it seeks to expand in China, an Alibaba spokesman said.

Revised fourth-quarter Japanese data on Monday is likely to show capital spending was slightly stronger than expected, but overall economic growth was little changed from initial estimates, confirming the economy only managed to limp out of recession.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has allowed some companies to test their apps on its yet-to-be-launched Apple Watch and adjust the tools to the watch's design, Bloomberg reported.

Business software maker SAP SE (SAPG.DE) will cut about 2,250 posts, or around 3 percent of its global workforce, while creating a similar number in expanding parts of the company, as it accelerates a push to sell its products via the Internet.

The dollar held pole position in Asia on Friday as bulls wagered a looming U.S. jobs report would add to the chance of rate hikes there, even as the European Central Bank embarks on a trillion euro campaign of bond-buying.

U.S. employment likely rose strongly in February with the jobless rate slipping, signs that could encourage the Federal Reserve to consider hiking interest rates in June.

German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will next week announce an investment worth around $1 billion in Mexico to expand its Puebla plant, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment aid last week rose to its highest level since May, but economists dismissed the increase as weather-related and said the jobs market remained solid.

New orders for U.S. factory goods unexpectedly fell in January, posting their sixth straight monthly decline, a sign of weakness in the manufacturing sector.

U.S. stocks closed modestly higher in light trading on Thursday as investors held back on big bets ahead of Friday's jobs report, which is expected to be a big factor in influencing the timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

Oil closed lower on Thursday in volatile trade, as a soaring dollar and the U.S. pursuit of an Iranian nuclear deal offset earlier gains from supply concerns in Libya and Iraq.

China will boost efforts this year to rid itself of a strong addiction to coal in a bid to reduce damaging pollution as well as cut the energy intensity of its economy, which is expected to grow at its lowest rate in 25 years.

Britain is ready to force the sale of Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman's recently acquired North Sea energy assets unless it receives unspecified assurances within the next week, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Thursday.

Ireland's government expects International Consolidated Airlines Group (ICAG.L) (IAG) to make a further offer to convince it to sell its 25 percent stake in Aer Lingus (AERL.I), Deputy Prime Minister Joan Burton said on Thursday.

Emirates [EMIRA.UL] has had extensive discussions with Airbus about the production of a revamped version of the A380 super jumbo with more efficient engines, the airline's president said on Thursday.

Emirates Airline [EMIRA.UL] President Tim Clark plans talks with officials in Washington in two weeks' time to help formulate its response to allegations by U.S. airlines of unfair subsidies awarded to Gulf airlines, he said on Thursday.

Citigroup (C.N) has sold its nearly 10 percent stake in Turkey's Akbank (AKBNK.IS) for $1.2 billion, the U.S. lender said on Thursday, its latest disposal of overseas assets to cut costs and boost profits.

Malaysia's indebted and controversy-ridden state investor 1MDB will be left as a skeletal structure and possibly dissolved under a debt repayment plan in which most of its assets will be sold, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The largest U.S. banks and their foreign rivals are facing a tough two-step check-up of their financial health by the Federal Reserve, forcing the firms to get a far better grip on how they measure risk.

German industrial orders fell far more than forecast in January, posting their largest drop since August, data showed on Thursday, casting a shadow over what had previously looked like a strong start to 2015 for Europe's largest economy.

Brent crude future prices rose above $61 a barrel on Thursday, as investors brushed aside bearish U.S. inventories data to focus on the lack of a deal in talks over Iran's nuclear program.

Citigroup Inc had at least one advantage in its successful bid for the exclusive right to issue credit cards for Costco Wholesale Corp, rivals and tax specialists say: it lost so much money during the financial crisis that it has billions of dollars of tax credits.

AbbVie Inc (ABBV.N) is to buy Pharmacyclics Inc (PCYC.O) for about $21 billion, giving it access to what is expected to be one of the world's top-selling cancer drugs and expanding its reach in the profitable oncology field.