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Hyundai Motor Co said Thursday its second-quarter net profit plunged 23.8 percent from a year earlier, due to a strong won and increased competition at home and abroad.

Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever said Thursday that while it had managed to increase sales, consumer demand is weak both in emerging and industrialised markets.

China has 668 million Internet users, accounting for 48.8 percent of the country's total population, as e-commerce boomed in the world's second-largest economy, authorities said.

Iran on Thursday outlined plans to rebuild its main industries and trade relationships following a nuclear agreement with world powers, saying it was targeting oil and gas projects worth $185 billion by 2020.

Sales of Microsoft Corp's Surface tablets and Xbox gaming consoles are soaring.

Investors pumped some $32.5 billion into more than 1,800 venture-backed companies around the world in the past quarter, amid feverish interest in tech startups, a survey showed Thursday.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc has taken full ownership of Chinese e-commerce firm Yihaodian.com, buying out the 49 percent stake that it did not already own to accelerate its push online, the U.S. retail giant said on Thursday.

General Motors reported Thursday that earnings quadrupled due to solid sales in the US and China even as revenues were dented by the strong dollar.

McDonald's reported lower quarterly earnings Thursday behind a drop in comparable sales and declining traffic in all major segments.

Greece's parliament on Thursday passed legislation on a second batch of reforms needed to help unlock a huge international bailout for the country's stricken economy.

Toshiba president Hisao Tanaka and his predecessor Norio Sasaki resign over a $1.2 billion accounting scandal blamed on management's overzealous pursuit of profit that has battered one of Japan's best-known firms.

THE International Monetary Fund's threat to pull out of bailouts for Greece unless European partners grant Athens massive debt relief poses a stark challenge to Germany, the biggest creditor, which insists on IMF involvement in any future rescue.

A bitter dispute over the proposed merger of two Samsung affiliates comes to a head Friday with a shareholder vote that could -- whatever the result -- force a shift in corporate governance practice among South Korea's giant, family-run conglomerates.

The effects of air pollution cost France some 100 billion euros ($110.1 billion) each year, a French Senate committee report estimated Wednesday, citing impact to health as the major expense.

China's GDP expanded 7.0 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, official data showed Wednesday, beating expectations as months of central bank policy stimulus helped support the world's second-largest economy.

Canada's central bank cut its key lending rate by a quarter-point to 0.5 percent Wednesday in a bid to stimulate an economy that fell into recession in the first half of the year.

Twenty years ago today Amazon sold its first book, created the first online book store and went on to become a hugely profitable internet superpower. Today it's celebrating that anniversary with Amazon Prime day, 24 hours of special offers which will be the biggest day of e-commerce the world has ever seen.

Sri Lanka is seeking cheaper funding sources to replace billions of dollars in debt from Chinese banks, government officials said, as the six-month-old government distances itself from Beijing weeks before a general election.

HSBC should have made deeper checks before buying a Swiss private bank that allegedly allowed customers to dodge taxes and a Mexican business that breached anti-money laundering rules, its former chairman said.