Crunch European talks to end the standoff over Greece's debt ended without a deal on Thursday, as the IMF warned Athens it would get no leeway to meet a payment at the end of the month and avoid default.

The clock ticked closer to midnight on the crisis after eurozone finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg failed to reach a breakthrough  on a reform deal that could avert  a catastrophic Greek exit from the euro.

U.S. lawmakers voted Thursday to give President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a major trans-Pacific trade accord, moving it closer to his desk after a dramatic defeat last week.

Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) narrowly passed the House of Representatives by 218 votes to 208 as a stand-alone bill, after congressional leaders uncoupled it from a worker-assistance program that crashed to defeat Friday when most Democrats voted against it in order to block the trade package.

Five years of austerity cuts may have saved Greece from financial collapse, but the life of ordinary Greeks took a decided turn for the worse.

Savagely slashing spending managed to reduce the state budget deficit and the public debt dynamic improved, but at the cost of soaring unemployment and poverty.

A major airline industry group said Wednesday it is backing off plans to introduce a standard size carry-on bag that would be smaller than some countries currently allow on planes.

The Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement it was "pausing the rollout of its Cabin OK initiative and beginning a comprehensive reassessment in light of concerns expressed, primarily in North America."

U.S. technology giant Cisco announced Thursday that it will invest more than $10 billion in China in coming years to help the country "innovate and globalize".

Cisco signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning agency, to expand investment in China focusing on areas of innovation, equity investment, research and development and job creation, the company said in a statement.

The U.S. will put the image of a woman on an American banknote for the first time in over a century, breaking the lock that white male political heroes have on the greenback.

The U.S. Treasury announced Thursday that a yet-unchosen woman, likely "a champion for our inclusive democracy," will feature on the $10 note from 2020, replacing Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury.

Failure of talks between Greece and its creditors would have "extremely serious" consequences for Europe, France's finance minister warned Wednesday on the eve of a crucial ministerial meeting to discuss the crisis.

A breakdown in talks would be "very serious for Greece but also extremely serious for the European project," Michel Sapin told lawmakers.

Toyota on Wednesday defended a controversial new share sale that critics, led by overseas institutional investors, derided as a bid to tame shareholder activism.

The world's biggest automaker said 75 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the plan on Tuesday that will see it sell up to 50 million new shares, which must be held for five years and will not be publicly traded.

Every morning on his way to work in Yangon, builder Zaw Min Tun takes a swig of water at a Buddhist temple, a vital place to quench a thirst for the many ordinary citizens left behind by Myanmar's economic boom.

Bottled water is among the plethora of consumer industries set to take off as the country emerges from decades of isolated junta rule, putting more money in the pockets of the country's rich and a growing middle class.

The Greek central bank warned Wednesday that the country could crash out of the eurozone and even the European Union if it fails to reach a bailout deal with international creditors.

"Failure to reach an agreement would... mark the beginning of a painful course that would lead initially to a Greek default and ultimately to the country's exit from the euro area and -– most likely -– from the European Union."