The flurry of technology deals luxury watchmakers announced this week to tackle the Apple Watch threat are more a way to hedge their bets in case the smartwatch market takes off than a strategic U-turn.
Sectors
Abe-Kuroda honeymoon soured by fiscal friction
A rift is emerging between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his hand-picked central bank boss on how to fix Japan's tattered finances, which could blunt the impact of the "Abenomics" stimulus policies they have worked together to prosecute.
China sees bright spots in slowing economy, vice premier says
China's economy faces increased downward pressure this year but the slowdown is stabilizing, with employment and services among the bright spots, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said on Sunday.
Ethiopia launches 4G mobile service in the capital
Ethiopia's state-run telecoms monopoly has launched a fourth generation (4G) mobile service in the capital Addis Ababa, aiming to catch up with the high-speed communications available in some east African neighbors such as Kenya and Uganda.
Austrian finance minister sees lack of trust in Greece
Greece must cooperate with international creditors and boost confidence among its euro zone partners about economic reforms, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling said in a radio interview, adding a lack of trust was a major problem.
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Brazil's state-run Petrobras said on Friday it shut its P-58 offshore oil production ship after the country's petroleum regulator ANP found irregularities on board the vessel, one of the company's most important offshore production systems.
Pemex is set to launch its first-ever sales of gasoline mixed with cleaner-burning ethanol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Mexican state-run oil company said on Thursday.
Japan is split over joining a China-led development bank, concerned about missing out on the rapidly coalescing global movement for the institution while also worried about alienating ally United States and helping bolster rival China, officials said.
Australia said on Friday there was a lot of merit in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) while Japan's finance minister signalled cautious approval of the institution that the United States has warned against.
China will take steps to rein in possible risks from short-term local government bonds, including converting such bonds into long-term debt, the country's vice finance minister, Zhu Guangyao, said on Saturday.
The current level of China's yuan CNY=CFXS is appropriate because it reflects foreign exchange supply and demand and economic fundamentals, a top central bank researcher said on Saturday, playing down talk of suspected official intervention.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Friday creating a regional currency union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, Russia's main partners in a union of ex-Soviet states facing growing economic challenges.
Greece will receive much needed funding once it has submitted a detailed list of proposed reforms to the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, its government spokesman said on Friday, as the country strives to avoid a cash crunch within weeks.
Jaguar Land Rover Ltd on Friday said it is recalling nearly 36,500 Range Rover Evoque sport utility vehicles (SUVs), after local media reported the British luxury carmaker used faulty gearboxes.
