Germany restates its opposition to so-called eurobonds as the new French finance minister prepares to meet his German counterpart for the first time.

US internet company Yahoo says it has reached a deal to sell part of its stake in China's biggest internet company Alibaba Group.

Nasdaq boss Robert Greifeld says he is "humbly embarrassed" about the glitch that led to a delay in trading of Facebook shares on Friday.

Chinese regulators approve Google's $12.5bn purchase of US phone maker Motorola Mobility, the final hurdle for the deal to go through.

Ryanair reports record annual profits as fare rises help to offset a sharp rise in fuel costs, but it warns profits could fall this year.

Thailand's economy rebounds sharply as factories boost production recovering quickly from last year's floods.

Qantas says it will cut 500 jobs as it relocates its heavy maintenance and engineering work out of Melbourne.

Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group agrees to buy US cinema chain AMC Entertainment for $2.6bn, making it the biggest movie theatre owner globally.

JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon will appear before a Senate committee to explain the bank's $2bn trading loss on a failed hedging strategy.

Spanish energy giant Repsol cancels a contract to provide gas to Argentina, in a continuing row after Buenos Aries nationalised one of its subsidiaries.

Spain's Repsol oil company says a first attempt to find oil off Cuba's northern coast has been unsuccessful.

US retail sales barely grew in April, rising 0.1% compared with a gain of 0.7% the month before, while consumer prices stayed unchanged.

A free trade agreement between the US and Colombia takes effect five years after being signed, with Colombian flowers the first goods to be sent.

The founder of US electronics retailer Best Buy is leaving after it was found he knew the chief executive was having an affair but did not disclose it.

Ratings agency Moody's cuts the credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks, as shares in struggling lender Bankia fell another 14%.

The cost of borrowing on the international money markets rise sharply for Spain as investors fear further financial turmoil in Europe.

France's new finance minister reiterates that the country's new socialist government will not ratify the European Union's fiscal pact.

The United Nations Development Programme says Africa needs to boost agricultural productivity if it is to sustain its economic boom.

Africa received its largest ever share of global foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, according to an Ernst and Young survey.

India and Russia boycott a major international trade fair in Zimbabwe in protest against the country's policy of taking control of foreign companies.

India's aviation minister is due to meet the unions from national carrier Air India, where a strike by the pilots has entered its 14th day.

Chinese property prices continued to fall during April after the government kept policies in place to curb speculation.

Social networking service Pinterest is to receive $100m in funding, prompting analysts to value the two-year-old firm at up to $1.5bn.

Charles Green says administrators at Rangers have told Ticketus they are terminating its contract over future ticket sales.

Glentoran's cash flow crisis is expected to be eased by a loan from the Irish Football Association.

Sierra Leone's football league resumed on Friday, less than a week after suspending operations because of a shortage of funds.

Financial trading is the latest aspect of life to get the social media treatment, reports the BBC's Katie Hunt in Hong Kong.

Technology - like social media and internet telephony - has helped the Philippines to overtake India as the world's call centre capital.

Companies are embracing HTML5 to let them create visually-interesting and interactive websites and apps, says Ian Hardy

Anyone wanting to set up a new business in the country of the moment should be warned that one of the world's worst red tape mountains faces them.

As part of our continuing series looking at starting up and running businesses around the world, Rob Walsh, commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services, explains the situation in his city, and the work of his department.

Ever more academics and scientists in the US are honing their entrepreneurial skills.

A growing number of people are failing to save anything for their retirement - leaving them in a "precarious" position, a pensions provider says.

Mortgages - along with other loans - could become more scarce and more expensive if the eurozone crisis persists, a lenders' group says.

Childcare in the UK needs to be overhauled to make it more affordable, a report by MP Elizabeth Truss, for the CentreForum think tank, suggests.

The BBC's Europe business correspondent Nigel Cassidy reports from Greece that the latest surge of capital flight is being "led by families".

Samsung and Apple will hold negotiations in the US on Monday, aimed at resolving a lengthy dispute over patents, a row which led to more than 50 lawsuits in 10 countries.

Fashion guru Zac Posen, who has created gowns for stars like Gywneth Paltrow and Oprah Winfrey, has designs on Asia.

After the war in the 1990s, Sierra Leone has taken another symbolic step away from its wartime image as the home of the "blood diamond".

Thailand's economy expanded a robust 11% between January and March, compared to the previous quarter.

As most of India's airlines continue to struggle to make a profit, losses for the industry mount. In five years the aviation sector has accumulated losses of about $6bn.

As the likelihood of Greece leaving the euro grows, the BBC's Tim Whewell reports from the small Greek town of Lavrion to find out what life is like when the money runs out.

While the number of people using the internet in the Middle East is rising rapidly, Arabic still only makes up just 2% of all content on the web.

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Egypt's economic crisis sets major task for country's next leader