Central Japan Railway Co. plans to provide Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. with technology for the running of its bullet train operations, including earthquake response measures, it was reported Saturday.

The companies will sign a contract within several months, Kyodo News said, quoting sources close to the matter.

German business confidence fell for the first time in five months in March, data showed Friday, as disappointing economic data, political gridlock in Italy and the Cyprus crisis dampened the business climate in Europe's top economy.

The Ifo economic institute's closely watched business climate index slipped to 106.7 points in March from 107.4 points in February.

Canada's Tory government pegged a return to a balanced budget and its re-election hopes in 2015 on a strong rebound in the economy on Thursday, after being dealt an unexpected slump in recent months.

"We have some tough times ahead," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told the House of Commons, promising that a "consistent, steady hand" will get Canada back on track.

Cyprus is scrambling to overhaul its banking sector to avoid financial meltdown, after the European Central Bank threatened to pull the plug on emergency funding for the island's lenders.

Cypriot politicians have until Monday to approve a "Plan B" bailout deal with the European Union and International Monetary Fund or face being choked from the ECB funds, which would likely cause teetering banks to collapse.

American lawmakers averted a feared government shutdown by approving a stopgap spending bill, but heated debate over future federal spending took shape as they clashed over budget plans.

A trio of key votes bookended the action in Congress Wednesday ahead of a two-week congressional recess, the most urgent one being on the so-called continuing resolution, a $1.2 trillion appropriations measure that will keep the doors of federal agencies open through September, the end of the fiscal year.

Iraq's oil exports, which account for the lion's share of government income, rebounded in February after a two-month lull, figures published by the oil ministry showed on Thursday.

Iraq exported 71 million barrels of oil in February, or about 2.54 million barrels per day (bpd), up from around 2.36 million bpd the previous month, according to data published on the website of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation on Wednesday.

The newly installed governor of Japan's central bank said Thursday that he plans to do whatever he can to end deflation and break the economy out of the doldrums.

After a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters he had reiterated his pledge to "do everything we can to get the economy out of deflation."

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday slammed current European proposals to solve the Cyprus crisis as absurd, while Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris was set to hold further talks in Moscow over aid.

At the opening of a conference in Moscow with the head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, Medvedev slammed the European strategy to bail out the near-bankrupt eurozone member.

A bill to avert a U.S. government shutdown has won passage from a divided U.S. Senate after lawmakers cut deals on amendments, setting the stage for the president to sign it this week.

It also cleared the way for key debate on the 2014 budget.

Banks in debt-hit Cyprus will stay closed until at least Tuesday, a Central Bank official told Agence France Presse, after the authority issued a decree stating banks will not open their doors on Thursday and Friday.

With Monday a scheduled bank holiday, the official said there was no prospect of banking resuming before Tuesday.