The Lebanon-born Canadian designer Karim Habib has been named by BMW to lead the design of its brand cars starting June 1.

Habib, 42, has joined the BMW team in 1998, followed by a brief stint with Mercedes-Benz but returned to BMW and has been in charge of Exterior Design for the car-maker since March 2011.

Australia plans to roll out the red carpet for wealthy businesspeople by establishing a visa category offering a pathway to residency if they invest at least Aus$5 million (US$4.9 million).

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said it was important to attract people prepared to make a significant investment in creating jobs and economic growth, and he expected keen interest from booming China.

Toyota said Friday it would roll out a number of new compact cars priced around $12,500 in developing nations, targeting sales of more than one million of the models annually in emerging markets by 2015.

Japan's biggest automaker said it would make eight new cars at plants in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Brazil, priced at "about 1.0 million yen ($12,500) or more."

Nissan Motor Co. announced Wednesday it will launch global production of an all-electric van, the e-NV200, as early as next year in the Spanish city of Barcelona, creating 700 jobs.

The Japanese carmaker said it would invest 100 million euros ($126 million) in Spain to start production in its 2013 financial year at its Barcelona plant, which already makes the fuel-powered NV200.

European Union leaders pledged support for Greece on Thursday, vowing to keep the debt-wracked country in the Eurozone as officials prepared behind the scenes for a possible doomsday scenario of exit.

After an EU summit dominated by fears of a "Grexit" that went into the early hours of the morning, EU president Herman Van Rompuy told journalists: "We want Greece to remain in the euro area while respecting its commitments."

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart is growing her wealth at the rate of Aus$1 million every half-hour, according to an annual list of Australia's 200 richest people published Thursday.

Rinehart, 58, heiress to an iron ore prospecting empire built in Australia's resources-rich west, led the respected BRW Rich 200 list for a second year in a row with a personal fortune of Aus$29.17 billion (U.S.$28.48 billion).

Hollywood magnate Harry Sloan was reported Thursday to be in takeover talks for Australia's Nine entertainment empire, which is struggling under debts that could see it default within months.

Nine, which owns several television stations, the ACP Magazines stable, ticketing agency Ticketek and online assets, is racing a February deadline to repay Aus$2.8 billion (US$2.7 billion) in debt.

Saudi Arabia will give Yemen aid worth $3.25 billion, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday.

"To ensure Yemen's security and stability, the kingdom will provide $3.25 billion to support development projects there which will be agreed upon with the Yemeni side," he said at the opening of the Friends of Yemen meeting.

Mazda Motor Corp. and Fiat SpA are working together on developing and manufacturing a roadster, or two-seater convertible, although the automakers will come up with different, distinctly styled models.

The deal with Fiat of Italy, which controls U.S. automaker Chrysler, serves as a perk for a money-losing Mazda, and highlights the Japanese automaker's trademark product — the best-selling roadster of all time.

Luxury goods maker Burberry Group PLC said Wednesday that sales of its signature trench coats and other outdoor wear led a 26 percent gain in full-year profit.

Burberry reported that net profit for the year ending March 31 was 263.3 million pounds ($415 million), up from 208.4 million pounds a year earlier but still just short of analyst expectations for 275 million pounds. Revenue rose 24 percent to 1.86 billion pounds, and the company raised its dividend by 25 percent to 25 pence.