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.

Our brain is the headquarters of our central nervous system. Representing a mere 2% of our body weight, it uses approximately 20% of blood and oxygen resources available in our bodies. Understanding the development and function of the brain remains one of the great challenges of this millenium. This is the challenge of neuroscience!

Sheryn Knaider has a very unusual job title. “Motivologue”, Knaider is a certified coach in Neuroscience and consultant in motivational and creative intelligence. “Motivologue” is a Canadian word for people who drive and motivate others who desire change. Knaider obtained a Master in Motivational Neuroscience, a specialization which integrates the latest research on the nervous system to enhance motivation.

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.

Spain on Tuesday defended a 1.7-billion-euro ($2.2-billion) bid to host the Olympics in Madrid in 2020 even as the country battles a recession and high unemployment while slashing spending.

Spain's delegation submitted the 360-page bid document to the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Monday.

A consortium led by Dubai-based Arabtec Holding will build the Louvre Abu Dhabi art gallery for $654 million, the developers of the much-delayed project announced on Tuesday.

Abu Dhabi Tourism Development and Investment Company said construction would start immediately with the aim of opening the museum in 2015, three years later than originally planned.

Greece raised 2.6 billion euros ($3.4 billion) on Tuesday in a double sale of short-term treasury bills that once again saw its cost of borrowing drop slightly.

The Greek state debt management agency said it had raised 1.625 billion euros with six-month bills and another 975 million euros with one-month bills.