Faced with dire economic straits due to low oil prices, Saudi Arabia is gearing up for deeper production cuts ahead of its massive Aramco share offering.

Toyota Motor Corp on Monday said it would begin testing self-driving electric cars around 2020, which will use artificial intelligence (AI) to engage with drivers, as the company competes with tech firms to develop new vehicles.

China's internet restrictions have struck a "new blow" against foreign companies working there, Germany's ambassador said on Monday, warning that such moves could undermine Beijing's political and commercial ties with the world.

China's central bank governor said the economy could grow 7 percent in the second half of this year, accelerating from the first six months and defying widespread expectations for a slowdown.

Drugmakers and medical devices companies are drawing up plans to protect supply chains in case Britain crashes out of the European Union without a trade deal, and some small service businesses are already relocating to stay inside the bloc.

HSBC has appointed John Flint as its next chief executive the bank said on Thursday, sticking with a tradition of promoting company insiders to run the firm.

Global supply and demand for crude oil will be largely balanced next year, as growth in consumption helps erode a three-year-old overhang of unused fuel and should mostly offset a steep rise in output, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.

The heir to South Korea's Samsung Group, convicted of bribing the country's former president, appeared in a packed court on Thursday for the first day of arguments in the appeal of his five-year jail term for corruption.

Paris authorities plan to banish all petrol- and diesel-fueled cars from the world's most visited city by 2030, Paris City Hall said on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was open to bilateral trade pacts with either Canada or Mexico if a three-way deal cannot be reached to substantially revise the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Tackling bad debts is the priority for State Bank of India, its newly appointed chairman said on Thursday, but India's largest bank will not shy away from opportunities to grow, including in infrastructure lending.

Growth in the US services sector, a key driver of the American economy, hit a 12-year high last month in the wake of back-to-back hurricanes, a survey released Wednesday showed.

German industrial gases group Linde urged investors to tender their shares in an exchange offer for its planned $80 billion merger with US peer Praxair as a deadline approaches to reach 75 percent acceptance.

Oil prices steadied on Thursday on expectations that Saudi Arabia and Russia would extend production cuts, although record US exports and the return of supply from a Libyan oilfield dragged on the market.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan welcomed the humility shown by Uber's chief executive after the city stripped the taxi app of its licence to operate, but once again criticised the company's London management on Thursday.

Political and economic uncertainty, not least from Brexit, sent sales of new cars in Britain falling sharply in September, a key month for the industry, data showed on Thursday.

The Indian government is considering exemptions sought by Apple Inc for setting up a unit to assemble iPhones, Ramesh Abhishek, the top bureaucrat in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, said on Thursday.

A plan to list Saudi Aramco in 2018 is on track, senior Saudi officials said in Moscow on Thursday, as Saudi Arabia gears up to sign a string of investment agreements with Russia.

After five years without work, Syrian refugee Mohammed Ahmad was nervous but hopeful as he registered with as many firms as possible at a unique job fair in Jordan's sprawling Zaatari camp where he lives.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its policy rate steady at a near seven-year low of 6 percent on Wednesday despite a sharp slowdown in economic growth, after a surge in inflation that threatened the central bank's target.