France warned the United States on Tuesday of strong EU retaliation if it imposed tariffs on French products ranging from sparkling wine to cheese and handbags, in an intensifying row over taxing digital giants that risks spiraling into a new trade war.

The European Commission said Monday it had begun a "preliminary investigation" into how Facebook and Google collect personal data and what they do with it.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday that U.S. officials no longer wanted a global deal on taxing multinational technology giants, and that Washington might be preparing penalties over a digital tax implemented by France this year.

China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting Sunday, according to the country's information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said Thursday it was exiting the semiconductor business, selling its loss-making subsidiary to a Taiwanese firm as it struggles with intense competition from China and South Korea.

The U.S. holiday shopping season officially opened with a deluge of "Black Friday" promotions but the frenzied crowds of the past have thinned out with the rise of e-commerce.

South Korean appliance giant LG Electronics replaced its CEO and a raft of other top leaders Thursday after net profits slumped more than 30 percent in the third quarter and its smartphone division struggles.

Ukraine has lashed out at Apple for showing the annexed Crimea peninsula as part of Russia, saying the US tech giant did not "give a damn" about the pain of the Ukrainian people.

Germany's economy ministry on Thursday said it planned to tighten rules on non-EU takeovers of hi-tech firms, against a backdrop of growing alarm about Chinese firms buying up German know-how.

U.S. officials said Wednesday they have agreed to grant licenses to "several" firms to provide components to Chinese tech giant Huawei, which faces sanctions imposed over national security concerns.