Anti-government protests that shut down Bangkok's airports last year have cost Thailand 290 billion baht (8.3 billion dollars), a central bank study said on Wednesday.

Mitsubishi Motors is preparing to cut some 900 more jobs as Japanese automakers downsize to cope with a slump in demand for cars, media reports said on Wednesday.

US President-elect, Barack Obama, said that the country faces the prospect of having a trillion dollar budget deficit for years to come.

Asian scavengers, among the region's poorest, say their incomes have dropped by half or even more in recent months.

Oil was steady under $49 on Wednesday, after weak US economic data sparked a bout of profit-taking overnight, outweighing escalating tensions in the Middle East and widening supply cuts from the Russian gas row.

Wall Street brushed off more bad economic news on Tuesday and finished with a rally that left stocks at their highest levels in two months.

IBM Chief Executive Samuel Palmisano believes Government's $30-billion information technology investments may create over 900,000 jobs, a media report says.

Japan's top automaker Toyota will suspend production at its domestic plants for 11 days in February and March due to dwindling global auto sales, a media report says.

Oil prices rose back above $50 on Tuesday as the energy market was shaken by disruptions to gas supplies across Europe, already troubled by a cold snap.