GENEVA (AP) – Swiss watchmaker Swatch apologized Monday for an ad campaign that upset consumers in China and elsewhere and said it had “immediately removed all related materials worldwide.”

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Google has agreed to pay a 55 million Australian dollar ($36 million) fine for signing anticompetitive deals with Australia’s two largest telcos that banned the installation of competing search engines on some smartphones, the U.S. tech giant and Australia’s competition watchdog said.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

Shares of UnitedHealth Group are surging before the market open Friday as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it recently purchased shares of the beleaguered insurer.

TOKYO (AP) – The Japanese economy grew at a better than expected 1% annual pace in the last quarter, boosted by exports that held up despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs.

NEW YORK (AP) – Shoppers spent at a healthy pace in July, particularly at the nation’s auto dealerships, as they appear to shrug off President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which are starting to take a toll on jobs and lead to some price increases. Retail sales rose a solid 0.5% last month, and June spending was stronger than expected.

WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. wholesale inflation surged unexpectedly last month, signaling that President Donald Trump’s sweeping taxes on imports are pushing costs up and that higher prices for consumers may be on the way. The index had it’s biggest jump in more than three years. The numbers were much higher than economists had expected.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Berkshire Hathaway revealed three new investments Thursday in steelmaker Nucor and two of the nation’s biggest homebuilders – Lennar and DR Horton – but none of the investments are big enough to ensure that legendary investor Warren Buffett handled them.