A Qatari sovereign wealth fund was among a small group of investors who recently contributed $1 billion to Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry, U.S. securities filings showed Friday.

Qatar Holding LLC joined the group led by BlackBerry's largest shareholder Fairfax Financial Holdings Inc. in making the cash infusion after the company abandoned hopes of finding a buyer earlier this month.

Indian Hotels, an arm of the giant Tata Group, has abandoned a $1.2-billion offer to buy Orient-Express Hotels, marking its second unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Bermuda-based luxury global chain.

Indian Hotels Co Ltd (IHCL) made the unsolicited offer last October for Orient-Express, whose name comes from the iconic trans-European train, as it sought to boost its global hospitality presence.

China's industrial output accelerated in October, retail sales showed a solid gain, and inflation was stable as the world's second-largest economy showed early signs of fourth-quarter strength.

The 10.3 percent year-on-year gain in production at China's factories, workshops and mines announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) marks a marginal acceleration from September, when the indicator showed an increase of 10.2 percent.

Nissan Motor will start producing mini-vehicles, a special category of small cars in Japan, as early as next year in a bid to maintain its jobs and production level, a report said Saturday.

The move would mark the first time that Nissan producing "kei" category cars, defined as automobiles with engines of 660cc or smaller.

The EU's Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will appear in a Belgian court on November 25 to face claims of 900,000 euros in unpaid taxes, Belgian dailies reported Friday.

The former Belgian foreign minister, who is currently playing a key role in trade talks with Asian nations and the United States, has informed the head of the EU executive of the dispute, a European Commission spokeswoman told reporters.

Twitter's stock took to its wings in its public debut, closing up more than 70 percent. The day flew by with nary a hitch and gave birth to a new batch of Silicon Valley millionaires — even a few billionaires.

Now comes the hard part. With Twitter's value skyrocketing in just a day, the 7-year-old company that's never turned a profit and has just a fraction of Facebook's user base must prove to investors that it's worth the money. Twitter stock ended Thursday's trading at $44.90, giving the company a market value of $31 billion. That's $13 billion more than on Wednesday night, when the company set its IPO price at $26.

A boom in gas production will reshape the U.S. role in Asia and could fuel new tensions with a growing, energy-hungry China, a new report says.

U.S. foreign policy has historically been based largely on demand for outside energy, with Washington closely allying itself with oil-rich Arab monarchies.

Chinese exports grew faster than expected in October, data showed Friday, adding to signs the economy is picking up but analysts cautioned that global headwinds could still block any further improvement.

The General Administration of Customs said overseas shipments expanded 5.6 percent year-on-year to $185.4 billion last month, reversing a 0.3-percent fall in September. It is also ahead of a median forecast of 1.5 percent in a poll of economists by the Wall Street Journal.

Saudis have begun complaining of surging labor costs following the exodus of a million foreign workers, although economists insist there will be long-term planning benefits from fully regulating the market.

Professionals in the kingdom, both Saudi and expatriate, say the freelance tradesmen who used to queue for odd jobs in public squares have virtually disappeared since police patrols began the strict enforcement of tough labor laws this week, rounding up thousands of illegals for deportation.

The Russian economy ministry on Thursday significantly cut the country's growth forecast through 2030 due to falling investment and exports as well as an expected slowdown in retail trade.

Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev's announcement came just two weeks after Russia reported a disappointing 1.2-percent third-quarter growth figure that meant the economy would have a tough time expanding beyond two percent in 2013.