Japan's export growth slowed for a second straight month in May, with weak external demand now threatening to erode economic growth in the current quarter.

Investor sentiment in Germany fell to its lowest level in seven months in June as the uncertainty over Greece and subdued global growth weighed on confidence, a leading survey found on Tuesday.

Nestle said Monday that India's decision to ban the Swiss food giant's hugely popular Maggi instant noodles over safety concerns had led to 3.2 billion rupees (44.5 million euros, $50.5 million) worth of goods being withdrawn.

China is looking for new ways to lower stubbornly high long-term borrowing costs and stop the fruits of its looser monetary policy being pumped into speculative plays instead of supporting its slowing economy, policy insiders say.

Apparel retailer Gap Inc said it would close a quarter of Gap specialty stores in North America over the next few years, including 140 this year, potentially affecting thousands of jobs as the company struggles with a slump in sales at its namesake brand.

Honda Motor Co Ltd on Monday said it will recall 1.39 million Accord and Civic model sedans with potentially faulty front passenger-side air bags made by Japan's Takata Corp.

The European Union and the United States launched negotiations in July 2013 to create a free trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), with initial hopes of a rapid conclusion.

GERMANY'S EU commissioner said on Monday it was time to prepare for a "state of emergency" after talks collapsed at the weekend to rescue Greece from default and ejection from the euro.

Airbus and Boeing got their sales war off to a flying start at the world's premier air show near Paris on Monday with nearly $20 billion (18 billion euros) in orders.

Twitter Inc's next chief executive officer faces a crucial challenge as the company seeks to appease Wall Street after last week's management shakeup -- helping disaffected advertisers connect with users.

Even a lucrative career path cannot impede the spirit of entrepreneurship, and Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Standard Bank, a local private bank, has proved this as he groomed himself as an entrepreneur in banking, coming from another sector.

China's top taxi hailing app backed by tech giants Alibaba and Tencent will raise at least $1.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, as the company gears up to take on Uber in the country's expanding transportation market.

Russia's Central Bank on Monday cut its key interest by one point to 11.5 percent as it tried to bolster an economy battered by Western sanctions and lower oil prices.

Indonesia's trade surplus grew to $950 million in May, official data showed Monday, as imports slid sharply in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Saudi Arabia's stock exchange allowed foreign investors to trade shares for the first time Monday, boosting efforts by the world's top oil exporter to become a major global capital market.

India's wholesale inflation fell for a seventh consecutive month, but the pace of the drop slowed as fuel and food prices rose, government data showed on Monday.

Iceland's central bank said Wednesday it had raised its interest rates for the first time since November 2012, citing the risk of rising inflation as an economic recovery accelerates after a devastating crash.

Diplomats working to reduce carbon emissions from passenger planes globally may give some developing countries more leeway to meet new rules, a key official with the world's main airline industry group said on Tuesday.

The EU scathingly rejected Athens's new bailout reform plan Wednesday, throwing into doubt a crunch meeting between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the leaders of Germany and France aimed at ending the crisis.

From South Korea to Indonesia and India, monetary authorities are preparing to let their currencies weaken as a falling Japanese yen makes their economies uncompetitive, and drags them into what some policymakers are calling a "currency war".