French energy giant Total SA has reached an agreement with China's Sinopec on a joint venture for shale gas and refining, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The U.S. daily also quoted Total's chief executive Christophe de Margerie as saying that Chinese authorities now own a stake of two percent in the French company.

Tokyo's high-end shopping district of Ginza was back at its booming best this week with hundreds of shoppers queuing up to spend their cash, in an echo of Japan's bubble years.

Around 450 people lined up on one block, eager to splurge more than 40,000 yen ($500) on the new iPad, the latest in a long line of must-have electronic gizmos that a certain sector of Japanese consumers crave.

Indian and African leaders on Sunday agreed to sharply increase bilateral trade to $90 billion by 2015 as the two sides discussed potential deals.

The South Asian country is aiming to boost its trade and diplomatic ties with Africa where China has already made major inroads by striking multiple deals, building infrastructure projects and offering soft loans.

England's laws restricting shopping hours on a Sunday to six hours will be relaxed during the London 2012 Games, finance minister George Osborne said.

The suspension would run in England and Wales for eight Sundays covering the Olympics (July 27 to August 12) and the Paralympics (August 29 to September 9).

IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Sunday measures taken to fight financial woes in Europe and the U.S. were starting to pay off, in a cautiously upbeat assessment of the global economy.

But Lagarde -- in Beijing for a two-day trip to attend a high profile forum on China's development and hold meetings with her economic counterparts -- also warned that "major" vulnerabilities still remained.

Kuwait Airways, the Gulf state's national carrier, extended flight cancellations across its route network into a second day Sunday as it scrambled to cope with a strike by workers.

The action by Kuwait Airways employees follows a work stoppage by customs officials that began last week and is blocking food items from entering the country. Workers are demanding higher pay and other benefits.

Oil prices rose on Friday having endured a roller-coaster ride the previous day following a report, later denied, that the United States and Britain had agreed to supply the market with crude reserves.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, rose 14 cents to $105.25 a barrel.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday reiterated Germany's view that the eurozone's bailout fund did not need fresh funds and said a decision on the issue would be taken at the end of the month.

Speaking to reporters after meeting top German bosses, Merkel said eurozone finance ministers had tasked the European Commission to come up with possible ways to bolster defences against the debt crisis.

Europe's main stock markets drifted higher in late morning deals on Friday, as investors tracked positive US economic data and easing concerns over the Greek debt crisis.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading shares added 0.39 percent to 5,963.29 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 0.39 percent to 7,172.66 points and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.23 percent to 3,588.37.

Apple shares briefly soared past $600 for the first time on Wall Street on Thursday, a day ahead of the launch of the next-generation iPad.

Shares of the Cupertino, California-based gadget-maker hit $600.01 shortly after the ringing of the opening bell at 9:30 am (1330 GMT). An hour later, they were trading at $590.12, up 0.09 percent over Wednesday's close.