Asian factories face fitful activity as world sputters

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Factories in China and Japan - the world's second and third largest economies - saw scant sign of demand recovering in July, with surveys across Asia offering only crumbs of comfort after weak growth readings in the United States and Europe.

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Uber to combine China business with Didi Chuxing in $35 billion merger: Bloomberg

(Reuters) - Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc would merge its China business with rival Didi Chuxing, valuing the combined company at $35 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

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Japan July factory activity shrinks for fifth month but at slower pace, export orders slump: PMI

TOKYO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - - Japanese manufacturing activity shrank in July at a slower pace than the previous month but new export orders contracted the fastest in more than 3-1/2 years, a private survey showed on Monday, in an indication that recent yen gains are hurting exporters.

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China factory activity unexpectedly dips in July: official PMI

BEIJING (Reuters) - Activity in China's manufacturing sector unexpectedly shrank in July, an official survey showed on Monday, with small and medium-sized firms leading the fall and reinforcing fears that the economy may once again be losing momentum.

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Uber to invest $500 million in global mapping project: FT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ride-hailing service Uber [UBER.UL] has decided to invest $500 million into an ambitious global mapping project to wean itself off dependence on Google Maps and pave the way for driverless cars, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

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Tesla, SolarCity set to announce merger on Monday: sources

(Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc and SolarCity Corp could announce they have agreed to merge as early as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Vivendi says ties with Mediaset not 'broken'

PARIS (Reuters) - Ties between Vivendi and Italy's Mediaset are not "broken" but nor are they essential to the French media group's strategy as it could find other Italian partners, its chief executive told Les Echos newspaper.

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