Viacom Inc's Nickelodeon unveiled on Wednesday a paid streaming service for children called Noggin that will launch on March 5 for $5.99 a month.

Google Inc launched an initiative on Wednesday to make smartphones running its Android software more appealing to corporations, a move that could help extend the Internet company's reach into workplaces.

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said it was ready to assist Ukraine with its foreign currency issues, amid a steep fall in the country's hryvnia currency.

China has dropped some of the world's leading technology brands from its approved state purchase lists, while approving thousands more locally made products, in what some say is a response to revelations of widespread Western cybersurveillance.

Toyota Motor Corp's (7201.T) Lexus brand finished on top of the Consumer Reports annual "brand report card" for the third straight year, the influential U.S. magazine said on Tuesday.

European planemaker Airbus is talking to suppliers about the possibility of raising production of its A320 family of aircraft to 50 jets a month as early as 2017, narrowing a gap with rival Boeing (BA.N), a senior industry source said on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve is preparing to consider interest rate hikes "on a meeting-by-meeting basis," Fed Chair Janet Yellen told a congressional committee on Tuesday, a subtle shift of emphasis that helps lay the groundwork for the Fed's first rate hike since 2006.

Activity in China's mammoth factory sector edged up to a four-month high in February but export orders shrank at their fastest rate in 20 months, a private survey showed, painting a murky outlook that argues for more policy support.

Crude oil futures fell on Tuesday as expectations that this week's reports will show U.S. crude inventories rose again countered supportive news of Libyan oilfields being shut.

With shrinking prospects at home and the threat of further yen weakness, Japanese companies are rushing to buy overseas and seem willing to pay top dollar, as shown by Japan Post's $5 billion bid for Australia's Toll Holdings (TOL.AX).