Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell said Monday it had scrapped its controversial offshore exploration in Alaska after failing to find sufficient quantities of oil and gas.

Shell announced that its Burger J well in the Chukchi Sea, off the northwest coast of Alaska, did not warrant further exploration, adding it would now stop its activities in Alaskan waters.

Swiss competition authorities said Monday they were investigating UBS, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and other major banks for suspected price fixing in the trade of precious metals like gold and silver.

The Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) said it was probing whether seven banks had colluded to manipulate prices in the precious metals market.

With "sharing economy" services like Uber, Blablacar and Airbnb spreading among consumers, state tax collectors risk experiencing a revenue pinch as these new collaborative players capture market share from traditional businesses.

The so-called "Uberisation" of commerce is both rising in volume and spreading across an ever-larger number of sectors -- ranging from apartment, car and power tool sharing to money lending and food services.

The large open plan office with staff behind sleek computers looks like any newly-started modern business.

But Ethiopia's first online restaurant delivery service, Deliver Addis, must contend with major hurdles that would stall many entrepreneurs in more developed nations.

Indonesian teacher Nina Ramadhaniah hopes for "blessings from Allah" by opening a sharia bank account -- the sort of pious customer the world's most-populous Muslim-majority country is praying for as it launches an Islamic finance drive.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, has a Muslim population of around 225 million but this huge number of faithful has not translated into success for sharia banks, institutions required to do business in line with Islamic principles.

Moody's has maintained its deep junk "Caa3" credit rating for Greek government debt, but has upgraded its outlook following recent political breakthroughs.

"Moody's Investors Service has today confirmed Greece's government bond rating at Caa3 and changed the outlook to stable," the agency said in a statement issued Friday.

Russia agreed to resume gas supplies to Ukraine over the winter under a deal clinched late Friday with the European Union, capping months of difficult talks overshadowed by the Ukrainian conflict.

European Commission vice president for energy, Maros Sefcovic, told a press conference the preliminary deal was a "crucial step" to ensure Ukraine has gas supplies from October through March and that Europe receives onward deliveries. 

Volkswagen's new boss began trying to pull the embattled carmaker out of the wreckage of a pollution test rigging scandal Saturday, as the United States and Switzerland banned the sale of the group's new diesel cars.

The 62-year-old former Porsche chief Matthias Mueller was tapped Friday to replace Martin Winterkorn, who resigned over stunning revelations by U.S. environmental authorities that the German carmaker had fitted some of its diesel cars with software capable of cheating environmental tests.

World leaders on Friday pledged to end extreme poverty in 15 years, launching an ambitious U.N. development agenda that sets priorities for trillions of dollars in spending.

Pope Francis welcomed the new global goals as an "important sign of hope" in his address to the U.N. General Assembly and urged leaders to deliver on their promise to transform the world by 2030.

Pope Francis urged a more humane global system that respects the poor and the environment, as he criticized the economic order, in an address to the United Nations on Friday.

The pontiff, whose reform-minded approach has won him a rousing global following even from non-believers, offered his vision of a better world on his latest stop of a U.S. tour that has brought thousands to the streets to welcome him.