South Korea on Monday posted a record current account surplus for the first half of this year as slumping oil prices helped offset the impact of shrinking exports.

Indian online marketplace Snapdeal is set to raise $500 million in investment from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, SoftBank Group Corp and Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.

German carmakers BMW, Audi and Mercedes, will pay around 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) to buy Nokia's maps business, beating out high-tech rivals for location services seen as key to the future of self-driving cars.

Two Chinese smartphone makers pushed US technology giant Apple into third place in the world's biggest market in the second quarter, an independent analyst firm said Monday.

Inflation remained unchanged yet high in Indonesia in July despite predictions of easing, as consumers stocked up on food and transport tickets ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid, government data showed Monday.

Asian dividend-paying equity funds are reducing investments in traditional safe bets in favour of companies with rising dividend payouts to guard against investors selling out from the funds when US interest rates rise.

Mark Karpeles, the head of the collapsed MtGox Bitcoin exchange who was arrested in Tokyo, is facing fresh allegations that he misused $8.9 million in customers' deposits, Japanese media reported Sunday.

The chief executive of BMW hinted in a German paper that there was potential for another of its "i" electric car models.

Now that US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen has made it clear she's looking out for "some" improvement in the job market before voting for the first Fed interest rate rise in nearly a decade, so is everyone else.

Iran plans on buying 80 to 90 Airbus and Boeing passenger planes per year until 300 are in place to replace its ageing fleet, media reported Sunday quoting a civil aviation official.

Pakistan's car market has been dominated by Japanese automakers for decades, but a mini-economic revival looks set to attract new players from Europe and Korea into the mix.

Attention will be focused on Greece's embattled banks on Monday when the Athens stock exchange reopens after a six-week shutdown over the country's debt crisis.

Half of the world's estimated online population now check in to the social networking giant Facebook at least once a month.

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said Wednesday that its net profit soared 57 percent from a year ago, mainly thanks to a tax accounting change as the electronics giant continues to reshape its business.

Russia's central bank announced Wednesday it had halted its purchases of foreign currency on the back of a recent slump by the ruble.

Japan has been grappling with a severe butter shortage that critics say highlights a bigger problem with the country's protected agricultural sector, a key sticking point in high-profile trade talks this week in Hawaii.

TOURISTS and business travellers visiting Germany are often surprised when they reach to pay for their beer, metro tickets or even a large restaurant bill that their credit cards are not welcome.

Oil prices were down in Asia Wednesday as investors awaited the result of a US central bank meeting and a closely-watched report on crude inventories in the world's biggest economy.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will invest $1.0 billion in its cloud computing arm to expand its international presence, the company said Wednesday, as it looks outside its core business and beyond traditional markets.

Finland's Nokia, once the world's largest phone maker, has unveiled a spherical camera designed for making 3D movies and games that can be watched and played with virtual reality headsets.