Sydney - Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, will tour the world with a reconstituted Jackson 5, his older brother Jermaine Jackson said in Sydney on Wednesday.

"This has been a long time coming for the Jackson family to get back together," Jackson told Australia's AAP news agency. "It's just the timing," he said. "So what we've been doing is working on the music and all the logistics."

The Jackson 5 were hugely successful in the 1970s and rumours of a reunion have been circulating for some time.

Berlin  - Germany appealed Wednesday for a halt in the fighting that has escalated in the region near Goma, Congo.

Moscow  - Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi will travel to Moscow on Friday for his first visit since 1985, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

Gaddafi is to discuss weapons purchases and energy ties with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had "no doubt" Gaddafi's visit would be a success.

Moscow has made a push to renew Soviet-era relations with the North African state since President Vladimir Putin traveled to Tripoli in April.

Tokyo - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc on Wednesday said it expects full-year profits to fall by more than 60 per cent due to the global financial crisis.

Sumitomo Mitsui, one of Japan's three mega banks, expects its net profit to fall 62.5 per cent to 180 billion yen (1.9 billion dollars) for the fiscal year through March, compared to a 480-billion-yen profit it forecast in May.

Sumitomo Mitsui estimated its operating revenues for the financial year to decline 5.1 per cent to 3.7 trillion yen from an initially projected 3.9 trillion yen, due to rising loan-loss provisions as well as losses in its stock investments.

Madrid - Major Spanish banking group BBVA reported Wednesday that it remained in the black after nine months this year despite the turbulence on international financial markets.

BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) said it achieved net income of 4.5 billion euros (5.6 billion dollar), down 5.4 per cent from earnings in the corresponding period of 
2007.

Spain's second-biggest bank noted that last year's earnings were bloated by extraordinary income. Adjusting for that factor, then this year's nine-month earnings would have been 9.1 per cent higher.

Detroit - Sales volumes at General Motors continued to drop rapidly in the first nine months of 2008, the ailing carmaker reported Wednesday.