WASHINGTON - THE US economy contracted at a staggering 6.2 per cent pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, as consumers and businesses ratcheted back spending, plunging the country deeper into recession.

The Commerce Department report released on Friday showed the economy sinking much faster than the 3.8 per cent annualized drop for the October-December quarter first estimated by the government last month. It also was considerably weaker than the 5.4 per cent annualized decline economists expected.

HUA HIN (Thailand) - THE Association of South-east Asian Nations said on Friday it will send hundreds of Rohingya boat people back to military-ruled Myanmar, which rights groups fear gives them little in the way of protection.

Meeting at its annual summit, the 10-member bloc agreed to compile and pool information and interviews on the Rohingyas, who washed up on the shores of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia having fled oppression in Myanmar.

AS THE world emerges from the current downturn, there needs to be a significant shift in the balance of consumption.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in an interview with CNBC on Friday night that the status quo - where the US is the 'consumer of things made all over the world' - can no longer hold.

Instead, Asia had to pick up the slack.

WASHINGTON - THE US government committed to holding up to 36 per cent of Citigroup's common shares in a deal to bolster the fallen financial giant's capital base, and gave most of the bank's board their marching orders.

The US Treasury agreed to convert up to US$25 billion (S$38.6 billion) in government-held preferred shares in the bank to common equity, provided private investors contribute an identical sum, in the third major aid package for Citigroup since mid-October.