Sony will cut 10,000 jobs worldwide this year as it attempts to carry out sweeping reforms aimed at reviving the iconic but loss-making Japanese electronics giant, the Nikkei business daily said Monday.

About half the planned job cuts are part of a restructuring of Sony's chemical unit as well as operations tied to its small and medium-sized liquid crystal display panels, the Nikkei said in its online edition.

The public transport authority in Brussels halted all buses, trams and metro trains in the Belgian capital Saturday after a controller was "beaten to death" following a traffic accident.

Spokeswoman Francoise Ledune said the controller, aged 56, was taken to hospital, where he later died.

Japanese and Chinese finance ministers agreed to cooperate over contributions to the International Monetary Fund amid efforts to help subdue Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the Agence France Presse said Saturday.

Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi and his Chinese counterpart Xie Xuren met in Tokyo as part of their regular dialogue, Jiji Press and Kyodo News reported.

Iran's non-oil exports surged 29 percent to nearly $44 billion in the year to mid-March despite tough Western sanctions to rein in Tehran's disputed nuclear drive, according to officials and data.

Overall exports excluding crude oil hit $48 billion, Kiumars Fathollah Kermanshahi, a deputy head of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization, told the official IRNA news agency.

Chrysler is recalling about 1,700 small Jeeps because faulty gas tank valves can cause fires.

The recall affects some 2012 all-wheel-drive Jeep Compass and Patriot SUVs.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. began work on a $100 million technology center in Shanghai, focusing on alternative energy and new materials for the construction and auto sectors.

SABIC's CEO Mohammed Al-Mady said Friday the center would focus on helping design and create next generation alternative energy vehicles.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Friday estimated first-quarter operating profit at 5.8 trillion won ($5.14 billion), a 97 percent rise from a year earlier.

The world's largest technology firm by revenue was releasing earnings guidance for January-March before its official results.

The last Boeing 747 passenger service operated by Singapore Airlines took off Friday for a commemorative farewell return trip to Hong Kong, the Agence France Presse reported Friday.

Flight SQ747, carrying more than 350 passengers, was due to touch down in Singapore at 7:30 pm (1130 GMT).

Iraq approved a request from Kuwait's Jazeera Airways to operate services to Baghdad and Najaf, more than 20 years after direct flights between the neighbors were halted, officials said Thursday.

"We agreed yesterday to the request of the Kuwaiti Jazeera Airways company to (begin) flights from Kuwait to Iraq," said Nasser Hussein Bandar, the head of Iraq's civil aviation authority.

Iraq resumed pumping oil via a pipeline through Turkey after a fire resulting from an "act of sabotage" was brought under control, the Iraqi oil ministry said on Thursday.

"The pumping of oil was resumed at mid-day (0900 GMT) at the same rate after the fire was brought under control," ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told Agence France Presse.