News Update - 2.Feb.2009

• Amazon sales jump 18% despite a retail slump.
  
• Caterpillar sets more layoffs.
  
• Japan's NEC says to cut groupwide workforce by 20,000.
  
• Hitachi warns of $7.8b loss.
  
• Honda, Toyota and Porsche eye auto industry carnage.
  
• Japan's Panasonic Corp is set to book a $3.9 billion annual net loss.
  
• Ford Motor Co may need to access U.S. government help in late 2009,
  
• British drugs company GlaxoSmithKline Plc. is set to announce about 6,000 job losses
  
• An official in U.S. President Barack Obama's administration said on Saturday the announcement of a rescue plan for the financial system was running on schedule.
  
• Nike is experiencing a sharp increase in online sales
  
• http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/02/myanmar.suu.kyi/index.html?eref=edition_world
  
• Japan will hand out $17 billion in development aid to other Asian countries to help them face the global financial crisis, Prime Minister Taro Aso said at the World Economic Forum.
  
• In a brutal week for the job market, an assortment of companies across various industries announced more than 100,000 job cuts. (US job market)
  
• The worst snow since 1991 blankets southern England, causing travel chaos on roads and at airports.
  
• Every 30 seconds, a baby is born with physical defects in China, partly due to the country's deteriorating environment, state media said, citing a senior family planning official.