Principal news stories from the Irish Times and Irish Examiner.

The start of 2012 saw a return to growth of Japanese manufacturing production, although the rate of expansion was modest according to the latest PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) data . New order intakes increased marginally, while staff numbers were unchanged compared to one month earlier. On the price front, input price inflation eased to a moderate rate, and factory gate charges fell for a sixth month in succession. Meanwhile official data published today showed that Japan’s factory output jumped 4% in December, as the sector recovered from flood disruption of supply chains in Thailand, trade ministry figures showed in Tokyo today. Industrial output for October-to-December fell 0.4%.

Architect Bill Peterson designed his condo in an East Village brownstone to include a folding facade, bringing his historic home into the future.

Most New Yorkers see the city’s venerable brownstones as architectural portals to the past. One unusual example the East Village includes a folding facade, bringing the historic home into the future.

State attorneys general have until Friday to join a potential national settlement of alleged foreclosure abuses, according to a document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The price tag for One World Trade Center, the signature skyscraper under construction at Ground Zero in New York, has risen to more than $3.8 billion, making it by far the world’s most expensive new office tower.

A summit of European Union leaders began in Brussels on Monday afternoon, as they struggle to reconcile the continent’s desperate need for economic growth with programs of austerity. The meeting to agree an intergovernmental treaty on closer governance of individual member states’ economies has been overshadowed by Germany’s proposal of an EU-appointed “budget commissioner” for Greece with powers to override its government’s budget policy. Meanwhile also Monday France cut its 2012 GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecast to 0.5% and Italy raised  €7.5bn in bond sales at sharply reduced rates.

Figures released in response to a parliamentary question by Sinn Féin’s Peadar Tóibín to the Minister for Enterprise and Jobs Richard Bruton reveals that IDA Ireland, the State agency responsible for the promotion of FDI (foreign direct investment) paid €548m in grants to foreign companies in the six years to 2011. In 2007, there were 1,070 IDA-supported companies operating in Ireland, but by 2011 there were 66 fewer, with a loss of 10,000 permanent jobs.

It may be one of the most intriguing trends in homebuilding: do-it-yourself tiny homes. Amid a growing interest in eco-friendly lifestyles comes a spate of picture books capturing the joys of shoe box living.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities; EU leaders are expected to approve the text of a new intergovernmental treaty at a summit in Brussels later Monday.