Talks on the ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership remained stuck on a handful of tough issues including auto parts and drug protections as trade ministers moved to a second day of negotiations Thursday.

A worsening skills shortage could blight hopes that Britain can overcome years of dire productivity performance, potentially denting its economic expansion in future, a report suggested on Monday.

The large open plan office with staff behind sleek computers looks like any newly-started modern business.

German prosecutors on Monday announced a criminal investigation against Volkswagen's former chief executive as the government pressed the embattled auto giant to quickly resolve the pollution cheating scandal that has rocked the auto sector.

Profits earned by Chinese industrial companies declined at the sharpest rate in four years in August as costs kept rising and product prices kept falling, according to official data that adds to signs of weakness in the world's second largest economy.

Farmer Phub Zam, 55, is in a hurry. Monsoon rains have hit her farm in Bhutan's Paro valley and Zam is rushing to harvest her broccoli before crop is damaged.

The Indian government may consider reducing its stake in state-run lenders to 52 percent, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday.

Facebook Inc introduced a slate of new advertising products on Sunday, most of which are aimed at luring television advertisers onto the 1.5-billion user social network.

Not one Japanese company applied for a subsidy programme aimed at promoting more women to senior jobs, an official said Monday, an embarrassing blow for Tokyo's push to boost the economy with female workers.

SWISS competition authorities said Monday they were investigating UBS, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and other major banks for suspected price fixing in the trade of precious metals like gold and silver.

INDONESIAN teacher Nina Ramadhaniah hopes for "blessings from Allah" by opening a shariah bank account -- the sort of pious customer the world's most-populous Muslim-majority country is praying for as it launches an Islamic finance drive.

Apple said on Monday it had sold more than 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Pluses during their first weekend on the market, setting a record for its marquee product.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to cut its key repo rate to a four-year low on Tuesday to help support the domestic economy at a time when consumer inflation is at a record low, but may express caution about easing further as price risks still loom.

Germany's transport minister says Volkswagen has admitted using the same fake emissions test in Europe as it used to falsify results in the US.

Volkswagen says 11 million vehicles worldwide are involved in the scandal that has erupted over its rigging of US car emissions tests.

Companies in the six Gulf Arab states are under pressure as governments reduce spending in response to a slump in oil revenues, Standard and Poor's ratings services said on Monday.

Growth in the number of people with access to the Internet is slowing, and more than half the world's population is still offline, the United Nations Broadband Commission said on Monday.

Taiwan electronics giant Foxconn has proposed taking over troubled Japanese behemoth Sharp's display business, the Nikkei business daily reported Monday, and has urged Apple to join the deal.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday he hopes the economy will grow faster this year than last, and expects that Asia's third-largest economy will not see a big hit from China's slowdown.

Volkswagen shares tumbled more than 20 percent on Monday, their biggest ever one-day fall, as the German carmaker was plunged into turmoil by accusations from US authorities that it falsified emissions data.