PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

SINGAPORE, Oct 26 (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)

- China issued a dramatic signal of expanding African ambitions with news that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is to buy a 20 per cent stake in South Africa's Standard Bank (SBKJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

- Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares soared to their highest level in more than six years late on Thursday as the software giant reported a surge in growth from its core desktop software products and raised its forecasts for the rest of its fiscal year.

- BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sought to draw a line under two years of damage to its troubled North American operations by agreeing to pay fines totalling $380 million to U.S. authorities to settle violations linked to a refinery explosion, oil pipeline leaks and fraud in energy trading.

- Merrill Lynch (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares fell further on Thursday after several analysts downgraded the bank and suggested it might need to take further writedowns beyond the massive $8.4bn announced on Wednesday.

- Chrysler's plans to use China as a low-cost car export base have hit a snag due to quality concerns at its joint venture with Chery Automobile.

- High levels of air pollution are a "legitimate concern" for anyone taking part in next year's Beijing Olympics, according to the UN Environment Programme.