PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

SINGAPORE, April 18 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and/or Web site editions on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)

-- Vikram Pandit, Citigroup's (C.N) chief executive, has vowed to slash the beleaguered financial group's cost base by up to 20 per cent, deepening fears that Wall Street and the City of London are about to be hit by tens of thousands of additional job losses.

-- A wave of relief washed over Wall Street on Thursday afternoon as Google (GOOG.O) revealed that its search engine advertising business had stood up better than expected in the face of the US economic slowdown and adjustments it had made to improve the quality of its own systems.

-- Lee Kun-hee, the chairman of Samsung Group, was on Thursday charged with tax evasion and breach of trust but was cleared of a more serious charge of bribery following a three-month probe into allegations of corruption at South Korea's largest conglomerate.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)

-- Widespread hoarding and corruption in state programs for the poor are exacerbating the damage from high rice prices, prompting clampdowns by authorities in many parts of Asia.

-- A special prosecutor concluded a high-profile investigation of Samsung Group [SAGR.UL] by leveling tax-evasion and breach-of-trust charges against its chairman, but left him in control of South Korea's biggest conglomerate.

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