Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a new international development bank seen as a rival to the US-led World Bank at a lavish ceremony on Saturday, as Beijing seeks to change the unwritten rules of global development finance.

Greek unions on Friday announced a general strike against a planned overhaul of the country's ailing pensions system.

European fruit growers could be able to export apples and pears to the United States later this year, the EU executive said on Saturday, following the publication of new US rules.

China's bank lending declined sharply in December from November, the central bank said on Friday, despite moves to keep the world's second largest economy from slowing further with looser monetary policy.

FOREIGN investment in Thailand plummeted last year, official data showed, the latest sign that the kingdom's once-vibrant economy continues to falter under prolonged military rule.

SLUMPING prices saved China more than $160 billion on its imports of commodities such as oil, iron ore, coal and copper last year, official figures showed on Wednesday.

A year on from "Frankenschock", when Switzerland's central bank sent global foreign exchange markets into a frenzy by abruptly ending its cap on the Swiss franc, the currency is one of the most stable in the world.

MetLife Inc, the largest US life insurer, plans to separate a substantial portion of its US retail business from the core company, saying on Tuesday that the "regulatory environment" helped drive its decision.

Stock markets in Europe and Asia rose and oil prices jumped on Wednesday after Chinese trade data cooled concerns over the world's second biggest economy, steadying money and currency markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Farmers in India's top sugar growing state of Maharashtra are being forced to replace cane with less water intensive crops, as a scorching drought drives authorities to hold back water from dams.

Russia will cut its spending by 10 percent this year, the finance minister said Wednesday, as prices for Moscow's key export commodity slumped to new lows.

Beneath the hoods of the cars showing in Detroit this week lie engines that are as powerful as ever, but are smaller and, helped by direct injection, guzzle less gas.

The "alarming" outlook for emerging countries hit by collapsing oil prices is more worrying than China's economic slowdown, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said Wednesday.

Supermarket chain Asda has predicted another year of "intense pressure" for the struggling sector as the global economy remains "turbulent".

The European Union will take the first step on Wednesday towards refashioning its trade ties with Beijing, torn over how to lower its defences to avert Chinese retaliation while protecting key industries against a damaging flood of cheap imports.

Japan pressed Singapore to ease its ban on Fukushima food imports, following the European Union's move to relax restrictions on imports from the area, according to media reports on Sunday.

German carmaker Volkswagen has posted its first drop in VW brand sales in 11 years as the company continues to cope with its emissions scandal.

Workers at an Italian factory were delighted by an unexpected Christmas bonus, receiving cheques for thousands of euros bequeathed to them by their late boss who died in June, reports said Saturday.

General Motors will be placing a big bet the American public is willing to drive a car built in China when it unveils the Buick Envision on Sunday night.

Chinese conglomerate Wanda is venturing into healthcare, it said Wednesday, with a $2.3 billion investment in three hospitals in China, to be managed by a British company.