Swatch Group, the world's leading watchmaker, said on Monday it would acquire U.S. jeweler and watchmaker Harry Winston for up to $1.0 billion (750 million euros).

The Swiss group, most known for its brightly-colored plastic watches, said it would pay $750 million to acquire the company and thus expand its luxury offerings and take a first step into high-end jewelry.

The UAE and Argentina signed on Monday an agreement to cooperate in the field of peaceful nuclear energy during a visit by President Cristina Kirchner, the state news agency WAM reported.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and his Argentine counterpart Hector Timerman, WAM said.

A weekend attack on an Italian diplomat in Libya caused no casualties but dealt a body blow to the government's efforts to woo foreign investors to rebuild the war-ravaged North African country.

The assault on consul Guido De Sanctis, which Rome denounced as a "vile act of terrorism," came four months after militants torched the US mission in Benghazi and killed four Americans, including the ambassador.

Chinese leaders have given final approval for a long-awaited new $11.2 billion international airport in Beijing to ease crushing congestion at the existing facility, state media said on Monday.

The state-run China Daily newspaper reported the decision, made Sunday, citing a spokesman for the country's State Council, or cabinet.

The Bank of Japan and the nation's new government will jointly set a two percent inflation target in a bid to fight deflation, news reports said on Monday.

The two sides are to finalize a joint statement on monetary measures in time for the central bank's upcoming policy meeting scheduled for January 21 and 22, the Asahi Shimbun reported.

The Obama administration on Saturday ruled out calls for minting a $1 trillion platinum coin to avert a crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling amid partisan bickering.

The U.S. Treasury officially killed the idea, leaving Congress with the responsibility to increase the government's borrowing limit.

KLM says the company will cancel its flights to Iran as of April, leaving Germany's Lufthansa as the sole Western European-based carrier offering services to Tehran.

Turkish Airlines, which has its headquarters in Istanbul on the European side of The Bosphorus, also flies to Iran.

Japanese telecommunications firm Softbank has decided to sell a two-thirds stake in eAccess, a smaller mobile service provider, to Samsung Electronics and 10 other companies reports said Saturday.

Softbank, which last year signed a $20 billion takeover of U.S. firm Sprint Nextel, is in talks with 11 possible buyers, including Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks as well as Japanese firms, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Greece's parliament early Saturday approved a new tax bill, part of the latest batch of fiscal reforms tied to the country's next slice of EU loans.

The legislation, criticized by the opposition as another serious blow to middle-class incomes in the midst of a recession, was supported by 162 deputies from the governing three-party coalition in a vote held after midnight in the 300-strong parliament.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Cyprus on Friday to follow economic reforms, two days after saying the eurozone bailout candidate will not see any special terms as it seeks an aid package.

Merkel, who attended an extraordinary summit of the center-right European People's Party in the port city of Limassol, also said the reportedly 17 billion euro ($22 billion) bailout package will not be decided "now."