Australian inflation came in short of expectations for a third consecutive quarter on Wednesday, boosting the case for an August interest rate cut as mining investment peaks.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in April-June compared with the previous quarter, while they were up 2.4 percent year on year as the economy transitions away from a decade-long commodities spending boom.

Dynamic growth and an expanding middle class are making Southeast Asian consumers among the most confident in the world when it comes to their economic prospects, a survey showed Tuesday.

Indonesian consumers were the most confident globally, according to the research by polling group Nielsen, while Southeast Asian countries figured prominently in the top-10 rankings during the second quarter.

The crisis hit Spanish economy remained in recession in the second quarter but seemed close to a recovery thanks to exports, the the Bank of Spain said on Tuesday.

"According to available data, that is still incomplete, we estimate GDP (gross domestic product) fell by 0.1 percent on a quarterly basis, a yearly drop of 1.8 percent," the central bank said in a statement.

The U.S. news channel of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera will be launched August 20, the group said Monday as it unveiled its top executive team.

Ehab Al Shihabi, executive director for international operations, has been named interim chief executive officer of Al-Jazeera America, and ABC News veteran Kate O'Brian has been named president, a statement said.

President Barack Obama on Monday pledged to unveil "bold" ideas to help America's struggling middle class as part of a fresh offensive to boost the economy.

Speaking to members of the Organizing for Action (OFA) group, the U.S. leader previewed speeches on the economy he is due to make later this week.

The United Arab Emirates ordered two military surveillance satellites from France on Monday, in a deal worth more than 700 million euros ($913.2 million).

The Falcon Eye deal, signed in Abu Dhabi over competition from Lockheed Martin of the United States, includes the supply and launch of two high-resolution Helios surveillance satellites, a control station and training for 20 UAE engineers.

Swiss banking giant UBS said Monday it had settled a lawsuit linked to U.S. subprime housing mortgages which sparked the 2008 global financial crisis.

The bank did not specify how much the settlement amounted to, but said it has set aside 865 million Swiss francs ($922 million, 700 million euros) in the second quarter to meet litigation costs including the case.

Russia and Syria are discussing the possibility of Moscow extending a loan to Damascus to help Syria's civil war battered economy, a top Syrian official said Monday.

Visiting Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said that the issue was discussed at talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Damascus hoped for an agreement by the end of the year.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew praised the "hard work" of Greece's prime minister Antonis Samaras on Sunday and urged his government to continue with economic reform.

Lew publicly declared his confidence in the conservative administration of Samaras following a meeting in Athens.

The G20 on Saturday agreed to make boosting growth and jobs, rather than deficit reduction, the short-term priority for the global economy as it battles to consolidate a "fragile and uneven" recovery.

Finance chiefs from the G20 group of advanced and emerging nations, after meeting in Moscow, also backed an action plan drawn up by the OECD to crack down on tax avoidance by multinationals to help replenish budgets diminished by the slowdown.