Tokyo - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa expressed concerns on Friday that "the nation's economic conditions have been deteriorating" and its financial conditions are getting "rapidly severe" in a quarterly report.

Companies have reduced production, reported lower earnings and cut capital investments as exports slowed down and yen gained strength against major foreign currencies, the bank's report said after Shirakawa met with nation's regional branch managers.

Seoul - Shares surged 2.2 per cent Friday on the Seoul stock exchange after recent losses. South Korea's currency rose against the dollar.

London - The international digital music sector saw a growth expansion of an estimated 25 per cent in 2008 but its business performance was still being overshadowed by unauthorized online downloads, the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said Friday.

Digital platforms accounted for around 20 per cent of recorded music sales in 2008, reaching a trade value of 3.7 billion dollars, IFPI said.

"Recorded music is at the forefront of the online and mobile revolution, generating more revenue in percentage terms through digital platforms than the newspaper, magazine and film industries combined," the annual report said.

London, Jan 16 : A picture on Facebook showing Uruguay''s Interior Minister Daisy Tourne in the shower has caused opposition leaders to be scandalized, and to brand her an `exhibitionist'.

Tourne, who is a psychologist by profession, had posted the snapshot that shows her in the shower on her Facebook profile page.

According to Montevideo newspaper El Pais, Tourne had also added the caption, "there''s nothing more natural than a woman in the shower."

London, jan. 16 : The MCC is looking into playing day-night Test matches under floodlights in a bid to tackle the credit crunch.

According to The Sun, the global financial meltdown has forced the guardians of cricket to think of fresh options to attract new fans.

Day-night Test matches are already being investigated in Australia, where the floodlit one-day game was launched during the 1970s.

One stumbling block is the ball, with the traditional red leather used in Test matches difficult to see under floodlights.

Washington, Jan 16 : Brad Pitt is the frontrunner to play Steve McQueen in a movie about the late actor''s life.

Hollywood producers Michael Cerenzie and Christine Peters have acquired the rights to Marshall Terrill''s recent biography `Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel', and are planning to begin shooting a biopic later this year.

And Pitt - who can currently be seen in new movie `The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' - is reportedly in line to star as the `Great Escape' actor.