Hong Kong's wealth gap was on Friday revealed to be at its highest in nearly 50 years, with living conditions fuelling discontent in the city as it prepares to mark two decades under Chinese rule.

India's anti-trust regulator said on Friday offers for free voice and data from Reliance Jio Infocomm, a unit of Reliance Industries, did not amount to anti-competitive actions, rejecting a complaint by rival Bharti Airtel.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto told German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday he wants a significant increase in trade with the European Union, vowing to complete a new trade deal by year's end.

Bountiful monsoon rains are unlikely to lift India's rural economy this year, and may instead compound the woes of millions of debt-ridden farmers who are struggling with low prices amid a glut of produce such as lentils, oilseeds and cereals.

Dealing with cyber hacks on banks ate into profit last year at the SWIFT messaging system, which financial institutions use to move trillions of dollars each day.

APPLE CEO Tim Cook on Friday warned graduates at MIT, a pioneer in fields like computers and robots, about technology's dehumanizing aspects and urged them to infuse its development with their own values.

A move by four Arab states to blacklist dozens of figures with alleged links to Qatar could squeeze liquidity at Qatari banks which get a significant amount of their funding from the region.

China's banking regulator has urged lenders to devolve responsibility for loan approvals in order to boost credit to small and micro businesses, but also emphasized that risks need to be kept under control.

The World Trade Organization largely cleared the United States of maintaining unfair support for Boeing Co, but said it had failed to withdraw a tax break in its main planemaking state that continues to cause trade fireworks.

Global food prices rose in May from the month before after three months of decline, and the world's food import bill is set to jump in 2017, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

Asian currencies edged lower on investor caution ahead of major occurrences such as the British general election result, the European Central Bank's policy meeting, and Senate testimony from ex-FBI director James Comey due in the coming 24vhours.

Demand for gold in Asia was muted this week as the bullion's rebound in prices curbed purchases, with discounts in India widening to the highest in more than five months.

India called on Thursday for a coalition of middle-income countries to drum up support for globalisation as a political backlash in the United States and parts of Europe against free trade and investment imperils its growth aspirations.

Apple Inc's long-awaited move into original television series starts Tuesday, with a reality show about a universe that is key to the technology giant's business: the world of app developers trying to bring their ideas to the masses.

The telecom regulator is formulating a pricing guideline for internet services as data is not becoming cheaper at the user level despite significant cuts in bandwidth prices.

China's foreign exchange reserves rose in May for a fourth consecutive month and by more than markets had expected, as stringent capital control measures and a weakening in the dollar helped staunch outflows.

Sony Corp has sold more than one million units of its virtual reality (VR) headset globally, the Asia chief of the Japanese firm's gaming unit said on Wednesday, as a relatively low price helps push the product into an early lead.

Mexico agreed to significant concessions on Tuesday to maintain its access to the lucrative US sugar market, but US sugar producers refused to endorse the deal between the governments, raising the risk that it could collapse.

Australia's economy squeezed out just enough growth last quarter to match the Netherlands' record of 103 quarters without recession, but its stamina is in doubt as households struggle with paltry wage rises and punishing debt.

A bust-up between Arab powers has dealt a blow to supercarriers already hurt by low oil prices and laptop bans, exposing the sensitivity of Gulf hubs to regional uncertainty and creating openings for rival airlines - at least in the short term.