PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

SINGAPORE, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and Web site editions on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)

--China strongly defended the quality of its exports and said it would work with the United States to improve product safety in the wake of another substantial withdrawal of consumer goods made in China.

--Belarus has turned to Venezuela to help pay back a $456 million debt to Russia for gas supplies after Moscow threatened to halve its gas deliveries, Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusan president, said.

--The outlook for the global economy remains "very favourable" despite recent market volatility and concerns about the U.S. subprime mortgage market crisis, according to John Lipsky, the IMF's first deputy managing director.

--Leading bankers moved to calm the global markets even as they admitted the shockwaves from the U.S. subprime collapse could put private equity deals on hold for the next few months.

--European governments are warning Congress that U.S. legislation aimed at Iran could hit European energy groups, undermine transatlantic unity on Tehran's nuclear programme and provoke a dispute at the World Trade Organisation.

--Pakistan warned that the groundbreaking civil nuclear co-operation agreement between the United States and India risked triggering an arms race in South Asia, in a statement likely to inflame already tense relations with Washington.

--The European Central Bank signalled the cost of borrowing in the eurozone would rise again soon, with most economists tipping on a now-traditional quarter-point rise in the main rate to 4.25 percent in early September.

--Wednesday's deadly collapse of a busy road bridge over the Mississippi river in Minneapolis has focused attention on the state of ageing US transportation infrastructure. At least four people were killed and as many as 30 people were missing.

--A U.S. plan to have all shipping containers scanned for security reasons would disrupt trade without diminishing the terrorist threat, the European Union said. In a strongly worded statement, Laszlo Kovacs, the European customs commissioner, said the unilateral action would force Europe's taxpayers to foot the bill for U.S. security.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)

--Jittery home-mortgage lenders are cutting off credit or raising interest rates for a growing portion of Americans, extending well beyond the market for subprime loans for people with the weakest credit records.

--The Dow Industrials rose 100.96 points to 13463.33 as a rally once again took hold late in the session. Investors weighed upbeat results from Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and Starbucks (SBUX.O) against lingering credit-market jitters.

--Even as the United States focuses on building 21st-century projects such as municipal wireless networks, it continues to be haunted by the crumbling state of its 20th-century roads, bridges and pipes.

--A landmark ethics and lobbying-reform bill cleared the U.S. Congress, after the Senate swept aside conservative complaints that the measure still fails to curb the practice of adding special interest earmarks to spending bills.

--Amazon (AMZN.O) has quietly begun delivering fresh groceries to a Seattle suburb, dipping its toes in an area where several companies failed spectacularly during the dot-com bust.

--Mattel's MAT.N recall of toys contaminated with lead paint highlights regulatory weaknesses in both the U.S. and China.

--Nokia (NOK1V.HE) reported strong results but said results at its new network-equipment venture were weaker than hoped, leading the company to speed up efforts to control costs at the unit.

--Unilever's (ULVR.L) net rose 16 percent, mostly due to strong consumer demand. The Anglo-Dutch company reported strong sales growth and said it plans to sell some businesses.

--Fiserv (FISV.O) agreed to buy CheckFree CKFR.O in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion to integrate its account processing and risk-management services with CheckFree's electronic bill pay services.

--Fear of an economic downturn is nearly as potent an election issue as the war, and both favor Democrats, a WSJ/NBC poll found. Respondents were pessimistic on health care.

--Viacom's (VIAb.N) net income slipped following a year-earlier tax benefit and earnings from discontinued operations. Profit rose more than fourfold at the company's movie business.