The United States has publicly expressed concerns about Britain's plans to renegotiate its relationship with the EU, with a senior official saying Washington favors a "strong British voice" in Europe.

The comments by Philip Gordon, the U.S. assistant secretary for European affairs, come ahead of a major speech by Prime Minister David Cameron this month in which he is expected to promise a referendum on Britain's membership.

The eurozone could emerge from its debt crisis this year, Standard & Poor's said in a report Wednesday.

"This could be a decisive year in determining whether the eurozone... can emerge from its sovereign debt troubles," the rating firm said in a statement on the report, titled "The Eurozone Debt Crisis: 2013 Could Be A Watershed Year".

U.S. financial institutions are being pounded with high-powered cyber attacks that some suspect are being orchestrated by Iran as payback for political sanctions.

"There is no doubt within the U.S. government that Iran is behind these attacks," James Lewis, a former official in the state and commerce departments and now a computer security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the New York Times.

Tycoon Li Ka-shing has retained the top spot as Hong Kong's richest man, Forbes magazine said Thursday, as the city's red-hot property market boosted wealth among the super-rich despite a global slowdown.

The 84-year-old Li, nicknamed "Superman" for his business prowess, added a whopping U.S.$8 billion to his wealth last year and is now estimated to be worth $30 billion, Forbes said as it announced Hong Kong's top 50 rich list.

European aircraft maker Airbus said Wednesday that Lebanese flag carrier Middle East Airlines had finalized its order of 10 passenger planes in its A320neo family that carry a list price of $1 billion.

In a statement, Airbus said the deal involved five A320neo and five A321neo planes, with options on eight additional planes.

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French auto giant PSA Peugeot Citroen said that global sales plunged by 16.5 percent in 2012 owing to contracting demand in debt-crippled southern Europe and the suspension of its activities in Iran, in a statement on Wednesday.

"PSA Peugeot Citroen recorded worldwide unit sales of 2,820,000 assembled vehicles, down 8.8 percent. Together, sales of assembled vehicles and CKD (completely knocked down) units totaled 2,965,000, down 16.5 percent," the group said.

China will overtake the United States economically within six years, an official research institute predicts, and go on to become the world's most important country in three decades more, state media said Wednesday.

The findings came from the Nation's Health Report issued by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Global Times said, without giving details of the criteria used for the prediction.

A multi-billion dollar deal in which banking giant HSBC was set to sell its stake in China's second largest life insurer Ping An to a Thai firm is in danger of collapse, reports said Wednesday.

Chinese regulators were ready to reject the $9.4 billion bid from Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group over concerns about funding for the bid, the South China Morning Post reported.

Qatar said on Tuesday it will increase its financial aid to Egypt by $2.5 billion to a total of $5 billion, comprising an outright grant of $1 billion and $4 billion in bank deposits.

The financial lifeline comes as Egypt battles a currency crisis and seeks an IMF cash injection into its teetering economy of an almost equivalent amount.