The European Union's poorest country Bulgaria will face the world's sharpest decline in working-age population in the coming decades, creating major economic challenges, the World Bank warned on Friday.

"Bulgaria is heading for the steepest drop in the working-age population of any country," the institution said in a new report presented in Sofia on Friday.

India's new central bank governor marked his first policy meeting Friday with a bold decision to hike interest rates, wrong-footing analysts and leading to sharp falls on the stock market.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) chief Raghuram Rajan, who had warned he was prepared to be unpopular, ordered a rise in the benchmark interest rate from 7.25 to 7.50 percent at a mid-quarter policy review in India's financial centre Mumbai.

German airline Lufthansa is ordering 34 new jets from Boeing and 25 from European rival Airbus as it updates its long-haul fleet to make it more fuel efficient and lower costs.

Lufthansa said the orders were worth 14 billion euros ($19 billion) at list prices.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay $920 million and admit wrongdoing in a settlement with U.S. and British regulators over the $6 billion "London Whale" trading loss last year that tarnished its reputation.

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority fined the company $220 million, the British Securities and Trade Commission fined $200 million and required JPMorgan to admit wrongdoing.

Japan's trade deficit swelled to a larger-than-forecast 960.3 billion yen ($9.8 billion) in August, the 14th straight month of red ink, as imports outpaced growth in exports, customs data showed Thursday.

Boosted by higher fuel costs, imports rose 16 percent from a year earlier to 6.74 trillion yen ($68.7 billion) while exports climbed 14.7 percent to 5.78 trillion yen ($58.9 billion). The deficit was a quarter bigger than the 768.4 billion yen gap seen in August 2012.

Honda Motor Co. is recalling 318,000 Odyssey minivans in the U.S. and 63,400 Acura MDX sport-utility vehicles in several nations for an airbag defect.

The Japanese automaker says there have been no crashes related to the problem. Honda is also recalling 23,300 Odyssey minivans in Canada.

U.S. stocks soared Wednesday to all-time highs after the Federal Reserve left its huge monetary stimulus in place.

Shortly after the Fed announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to a 15,709.58 and the S&P 500-stock index hit 1,729.44. Their record closes were on August 2, at 15,658.36 for the Dow and 1,709.67 for the S&P.

Versace is seeking a minority investor, a spokesman at the Italian fashion house still 100-percent by the Versace family confirmed Wednesday, with a source saying 250 million euros ($335 million) could be pumped into the luxury brand.

"The company is in the process of seeking a minority investment to bring in financial resources and accelerate development of the brand," said a spokesman, confirming Italian media reports.

Beirut, September 16th, 2012 – WonderEight was the only Lebanese branding agency to get shortlisted for the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards in London. The Beirut-based agency was shortlisted in the “Middle East & Africa Restaurant” category for the concept creation and full branding of Origami Restaurant.

Before becoming Origami, this restaurant idea was new to the Beiruti food and beverage scene: an original concept combining a kids’ academy with a top notch cuisine. WonderEight created the identity that clearly communicates the contrast and uniqueness of the place then developed the full branding in accordance with the identity.

German engineering and technology giant Siemens on Wednesday named Ralf Thomas as its new chief financial officer, replacing Joe Kaeser, who became the group's new chief executive in August.

"At its meeting today, Siemens' Supervisory Board appointed Ralf Thomas CFO of Siemens AG," the company said in a statement.