Swiss food and drinks giant Nestle SA notched a gain of 2.3 percent in first-quarter sales and confirmed Thursday it was on track for another year of steady growth, despite economic problems in a number of its key markets in the developed world.

The maker of Nescafe, Haagen Dazs and Jenny reported sales of 21.9 billion Swiss francs ($23.48 billion) during the January to March period, up from 20.8 billion francs the same period a year earlier. As a major buyer of food commodities such as wheat, sugar, milk and coffee, Nestle's results can provide insights into the state of the global economy.

Global auto makers will flock to China's premier car show, affirming its importance as the world's largest vehicle market and the savior of an industry pummeled by European and U.S. economic woes.

The Shanghai auto show which opens on Sunday will showcase 1,300 models and is expected to attract more than 800,000 visitors over nine days, despite an outbreak of bird flu centered in China's commercial hub, organizers said.

Lawyers who won a landmark case in Australia against Standard & Poor's over financial products that collapsed ahead of the financial crisis launched a new action Thursday against the ratings agency.

IMF Australia, a publicly-listed company that funds large legal claims, said it had filed a fresh case against S&P on behalf of 90 churches, councils and charities who lost hundreds of millions on synthetic derivatives.

Bank of England governor Mervyn King called again for more quantitative easing stimulus cash, minutes from this month's policy meeting showed on Wednesday.

The BoE's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-3 to keep its QE cash stimulus amount at £375 billion ($573 billion, 435 billion euros), repeating the voting pattern from February and March, according to minutes from their April 3-4 gathering.

The IMF forecast Tuesday that France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, will fall into recession this year with the economy contracting by 0.1 percent.

In its latest revisions, the International Monetary Fund dropped its previous forecast of 0.3 percent growth this year, but still expects the French economy to rebound by 0.9 percent in 2014.

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan has blasted "mindless austerity" in Europe as a brake on global growth and warned Asia "cannot continue to carry the load".

Swan said in an interview published Wednesday that developed nations needed to do more to drive the global economy, including boosting government spending.

European new car registrations fell by another 10.2 percent in March from February, marking the 18th consecutive monthly decline, to 1.307 million vehicles, data released on Wednesday by the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association (ACEA) showed.

Almost all main automakers suffered declines, with the exception of two high-end brands, Jaguar with a leap of 21.2 percent and Mercedes with a much more modest gain of 0.6 percent, the association said in a statement.

Near-bankrupt national carrier Cyprus Airways said on Tuesday it was in preliminary talks with suitor Middle East Airlines as it undergoes drastic restructuring to stay afloat.

"Middle East Airlines and its representatives had preliminary contacts with company management and the ministry of finance," the carrier said in a statement to the stock exchange.

Syria's Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi inaugurated a new power plant near Damascus on Tuesday, two years into a conflict that has cut power production by half, state news agency SANA reported.

Built at a cost of some $20 million, the 250-megawatt plant is in Qudsaya, northwest of Damascus.

The German parliament will vote Thursday on a bailout plan for debt-mired Cyprus, a deputy from the ruling conservatives said, with the government confident of a clear majority.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will open the session in the Bundestag lower house with a speech, followed by two separate votes on Cyprus, parliamentary sources said Tuesday.