Inflation in Spain picked up to an annualized 2.7 percent in August, from 2.2 percent in July, the second consecutive month that the rate has risen, provisional statistics published on Thursday showed.

The national Institute of Statistics (INE) did not provide details, stating only that the result was due principally to a rise in fuel prices.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met China's premier Thursday on her second visit to Beijing in seven months, as Europe's debt crisis begins to drag on the two global economic powers.

With the nearly three-year-old Eurozone debt crisis showing signs of spreading to China, the world's second largest economy, Beijing views Germany as a key player in tackling the problem.

Global oil prices fell on Wednesday as traders reassessed the impact of Hurricane Isaac on output in the rig-heavy U.S. Gulf Coast, analysts said.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October shed 92 cents to $111.66 a barrel in late morning London deals.

Preventing the European Central Bank from buying bonds issued by countries like Italy and Spain could drive up inflation in Germany, 0 warned Wednesday in an interview.

Monti's comments published in the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore a few hours before he was due in Berlin argued for resuming a revamped ECB bond-purchasing program that has been opposed by the influential German central bank.

The world's biggest air-conditioner maker Daikin Industries of Japan will acquire Goodman Global of the United States for 300 billion yen ($3.8 billion), a report said Wednesday.

Daikin decided to acquire the top U.S. manufacturer of home air conditioners as it seeks to develop the Americas, where its presence is weak, the Nikkei economic daily said.

Brazil's state-owned energy giant Petrobras said Tuesday it will deploy the world's first floating oil terminal capable of refueling tankers on the high seas.

"The new technology will ensure lower costs, by reducing the distance covered by oil transport vessels," the company said in a statement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week makes her second trip of the year to China, with the Eurozone debt crisis taking center stage as it begins to drag on the two global economic powers.

Merkel was due to take nine ministers with her and a high-powered business delegation for the visit Thursday and Friday to Beijing and Tianjin which includes talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and a joint cabinet meeting.

British security giant G4S said Tuesday that its failure to provide enough guards for the London Olympics would cost about £50 million as it struggles to recover from the fiasco.

The company announced in a results statement that it had booked the loss -- equivalent to $79 million or 63 million euros -- as an exceptional item in the first half. The provision was at the top end of its prior forecast.

Oil fell in Asia Tuesday as crude demand suffered from refinery shutdowns on the U.S. Gulf coast due to the onset of Tropical Storm Isaac while talk of a release of oil reserves surfaced, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October was down one cent to $95.46 a barrel in volatile trade, and Brent North Sea crude for October delivery shed three cents to $112.23 in the afternoon.

Philippine Airlines announced Tuesday it had ordered 54 Airbus aircraft with a list price of $7 billion, and planned to buy dozens more planes in a spectacular move to rejuvenate Asia's oldest carrier.

"The orders we are placing with Airbus will play a key role in revitalizing PAL and growing trade and tourism in this country," PAL chairman Lucio Tan said in a statement.