Australia's central bank Friday tempered expectations of an improvement in economic growth as the nation grapples with the shift away from mining-led investment, but said there were signs of a strengthening jobs market.

The Reserve Bank of Australia said "in the face of significant structural change, the economy has continued to grow at a moderate pace over the past year", but added there were signs of improving conditions including in the labour market and in the non-mining sector.

The Bank of Japan held fire on a fresh round of stimulus Friday, despite weak inflation that has defied its more than two-year-old monetary easing program.

In a widely expected decision, the central bank said it would stand pat on a record 80 trillion yen ($640 billion) annual asset-buying scheme that is aimed at boosting prices and kickstarting growth.

Russian officials on Thursday steamrollered tonnes of cheese as they began a  controversial drive to destroy Western food smuggled into the crisis-hit country despite a public outcry. 

President Vladimir Putin last week signed a decree ordering the trashing of all food -- from gourmet cheeses to fruit and vegetables -- that breaches a year-old embargo on Western imports imposed in retaliation to sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

The value of Russia's beleaguered ruble fell Thursday to more than 70 to the euro for the first time since March, deepening its recent meltdown. 

The ruble also tumbled against the dollar to 64.42, its weakest since the end of February, as the currency continued to drop after a period of relative stability. 

Taiwan's struggling smartphone maker HTC suffered its biggest ever quarterly loss in the three months to June, as sales of its high-end products plunged, it announced Thursday. 

The firm swung to a loss of Tw$8.0 billion ($253.2 million) in the second quarter from a net profit of $2.26 billion in the same period of 2014.

Kyrgyzstan became Thursday the fifth member of a Moscow-backed economic bloc of former Soviet countries, a move firmly linking the Central Asian state to Russia at the risk of disrupting trade with China.

The impoverished nation of six million people signed accession papers for the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in December, but had to wait for the bloc's four other members -- Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia -- to ratify its entry.

Germany is growing increasingly dubious that a deal on a third bailout for Greece can be sealed this month, the daily Bild reported Thursday citing a government source.

With just two weeks to go until an August 20 deadline when Greece must repay some 3.4 billion euros ($3.7 billion) due to the European Central Bank, the unnamed official told Bild: "It can't be done."

As money gets tighter, minds get more creative. This week, Global Entrepreneurship Week Lebanon has brought together Lebanon’s brightest entrepreneurs and startups with those who have the means to fund them to listen, discuss, network and compete. The enduring struggle to find funding means that the choices for startups are ever evolving. Bnooki.com has brought together a list of funding options from Lebanese banks and others, especially tailored for Lebanese entrepreneurs.

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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday said his government is nearing a deal with international creditors on a mammoth bailout, as his spokeswoman raised the prospect of early elections in the fall.

"We are in the final stretch to conclude an agreement with the institutions," Tsipras said in televised remarks.

Ryanair has flown more than 10 million passengers in a single month, a first for an airline, the Irish budget carrier said Wednesday.

Traffic grew 11 percent in July to 10.14 million passengers compared with the same month a year earlier, Ryanair said in a statement.