News Today - May 4

* China's manufacturing sector expands in April, marking its first growth in nine months, according to data from CLSA Asia-Pacific.

* Fiat Group, fresh from an agreement to buy a piece of troubled automaker Chrysler, has plans to purchase GM Europe and spin-off the recombined carmakers into a new company. full story

* Warren Buffett criticizes the government's bank stress tests, saying that marking down broad types of assets based on different economic scenarios doesn't work.

* Nestle, Nissan and Ciba all vow to continue as Satyam clients, Press Trust of India reports, with Nestle even increasing its business with the beleaguered Indian outsourcer.

* Economists expect the U.S. unemployment rate to rise another half of a percentage point to a 26-year high of 9% in April, with little end in sight. But the pace of deterioration seems to be slackening.

* The World Health Organization’s chief is preparing to declare the outbreak of A/H1N1 swine flu a pandemic, though that doesn’t mean the disease is highly lethal or that it will hit the entire globe.

* Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett defended the government's handling of the economic crisis, but warned that the purchasing power of the dollar may fall as policymakers stretch to finance expensive rescue plans.

* The Obama administration seems prepared to say that while a few of the biggest 19 banks may need more cash, the system is more solid than analysts fear.