ROME (AFP) – Admiration for Sergio Marchionne, the dynamic boss of Italian automaker Fiat, is giving way to grumbling as unions and the government question some of his more aggressive decisions.

The Canadian-Italian credited with rescuing the Italian icon from the brink of bankruptcy in 2005 has come under fire recently for his "irreversible" decision to shut down Fiat's Termini Imerese factory in Sicily.

As workers called a four-hour strike over that decision next Wednesday, Fiat announced Tuesday it will halt production at all Italian plants for two weeks from February 22 because of a fall-off in orders.

LONDON (AFP) – Leading shares ended higher in London on Friday as sentiment was lifted by data showing stronger-than-expected US economic growth chalked up in the final quarter of last year.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.83 percent to end the week at 5,188.52 points.

A US government report earlier showed the US economy roaring to life in the fourth quarter with a 5.7 percent growth rate on the back of brisk business spending to replenish inventories.

Lloyds was the most traded stock, seeing 190 million units change hands, followed by Vodafone, which saw 155 million shares switch owners.

TOKYO – Toyota is the latest Japanese corporate icon making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

News of the automaker's massive vehicle recalls over faulty gas pedals in the U.S. came just days after Japan Airlines, a once proud flag carrier, filed for bankruptcy, saddled with billions in debt.

Sony has lost its lead in consumer gadgets to the likes of Apple Inc. and has suffered its own quality mishaps. Honda, Japan's No. 2 automaker, is recalling 646,000 cars worldwide because of a faulty window switch.

BERLIN/ZURICH (Reuters) – German politicians were divided at the weekend over whether to buy the bank data of up to 1,500 possible tax evaders with accounts in Switzerland that media say an informant has offered to sell authorities.

The respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the whistleblower is asking for 2.5 million euros for the confidential data, which tax investigators believe could rake in 100 million euros for German state coffers.

The case risks prompting a fresh row over bank secrecy between Germany and Switzerland. Top Swiss politicians, including President Doris Leuthard, and bankers warned Germany against acquiring the data.

WASHINGTON – The economy's 5.7 percent growth last quarter — the fastest pace since 2003 — was a step toward shrinking the nation's 10 percent unemployment rate.

There's just one problem: Growth would have to equal 5 percent for all of 2010 just to lower the average jobless rate for the year by 1 percentage point.

And economists don't think that's possible.

Most analysts say economic activity will slow to 2.5 percent or 3 percent growth for the current quarter as the benefits fade from government stimulus efforts and from companies drawing down less of their stockpiles.

'Come on, don't ask me that,' Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said when presented with the inevitable question about his 2012 intentions and if his political aspirations included running for the White House next time around.

Better known as 'Obama Girl,' Amber Lee Ettinger, the actress and model who appeared as the sexy star of the Web video 'Crush on Obama' that went viral during the 2008 presidential election, now says she no longer has a 'big crush' on Obama.

Ettinger said on Fox News on Friday that when the video's creative director Ben Relles approach her to appear in his video, she agreed to do it because she did have a crush on Obama then. But Ettinger now says that her crush has faded.

NEW YORK – A joint venture partner of Ford Motor Co. said Sunday it has resumed making buses in China after determining that the gas pedal assembly doesn't have the same problem that forced a recall of millions of Toyota vehicles.

Jiangling Motors Co. uses the same supplier, CTS Automotive of Elkhart, Ind., that made pedal assembly parts for some Toyotas.

Jiangling makes a diesel-powered commercial bus, the Transit Classic, for the Chinese market. The vehicles went into production in December and only about 1,600 were made before assembly was stopped.

HERZILIYA, Israel (Reuters) – International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sunday urged the United States, Britain and other countries to cooperate on new policies and regulations in the wake of the financial crisis.

He told the annual Herziliya Conference that at the onset of the crisis, world leaders were "scared" and agreed to work together to end the crisis. But now, countries are formulating policies on their own.

"That doesn't work. The lesson of co-operation is still necessary," Strauss-Kahn said, citing U.S. President Barack Obama's plans to curb activities at major banks, particularly betting in financial markets with their own money.

NEW YORK – Even as Apple's iPad will likely energize electronic reading, the new device is undermining a painstakingly constructed effort by the publishing industry to make it possible to move e-books between different electronic readers.

The slim, 1.5-pound 'tablet' computer unveiled last week will be linked to Apple Inc.'s first e-book store when it goes on sale in a few months. The books, however, will not be compatible with Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle or with the major alternative e-book system.