France is stepping up controls of telecoms infrastructure used in next-generation networks, a finance ministry official said, amid growing security concerns over Chinese group Huawei.

As Daan Hosli's hybrid BMW glides into downtown Rotterdam, it passes a virtual boundary into the city's "electric-only zone" and his mobile phone trills out a reminder to switch off his combustion engine and drive on battery power.

Impatient with a lack of World Trade Organization rules on the explosive growth of e-commerce, 76 members - including the United States, China, the European Union and Japan - agreed on Friday to start negotiating a new framework.

The French government has introduced legislation stepping up its capacity to vet what telecoms infrastructure is used in the rollout of fifth-generation networks, a finance ministry official said.

Four companies have applied to take part in Germany's auction of fifth-generation mobile licences, the BNetzA federal network agency said on Friday, as the deadline for submissions expired.

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is planning to unify the underlying messaging infrastructure of its WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger services and incorporate end-to-end encryption to these apps, the New York Times reported on Friday.

Vodafone, the world's second largest mobile operator, said it was "pausing" the deployment of Huawei equipment in its core networks until Western governments give the Chinese firm full security clearance.

South African media and e-commerce group Naspers is nearing a deal to take full control of Russia's largest classified advertising platform Avito by buying the remaining 32 percent it does not already own, two sources told Reuters.

Hackers likely controlled by Russia are stepping up efforts to disrupt Ukraine's presidential election in March with cyber attacks on electoral servers and personal computers of election staff, the head of Ukraine's cyber police said on Friday.

Impatient with a lack of World Trade Organization rules to cover the explosive growth of e-commerce, 76 countries and regions including the United States, the EU and Japan agreed on Friday to start negotiating a set of open and predictable regulations.

The robots at the Enjoy Budapest Cafe can do it all - they can serve up food and drink, tell jokes, dance with the kids or just hang out for a chat with customers.

Accenture Plc, SunTrust Banks Inc and the American Bankers Association, a trade group for U.S. banks, said on Friday that they had joined a $30 million investment round in Finxact, a startup that develops the back-end technology used by banks to process some transactions.

Europe's data protection regulators have received more than 95,000 complaints about possible data breaches, eight months after the adoption of a landmark EU privacy law, the European Commission said on Friday.

Smartphone makers in India are calling for export credits on devices and tariff cuts on machinery imports as part of measures they say will make Asia's third-biggest economy a global smartphone manufacturing hub.

A Hindu nationalist group close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party has urged him to resist pressure from the United States and not defer new regulations for the e-commerce sector, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Volkswagen will manufacture electric car batteries and charging stations in its home region in Germany, as it prepares to mass produce electric vehicles and overhaul its components division, which makes engines and steering parts.

Vodafone, the world's second largest mobile operator, said it was "pausing" the deployment of Huawei equipment in its core networks until Western governments resolve concerns about the Chinese firm's activities.

Volkswagen said it would create a unit to manufacture electric car batteries, as it prepares to mass produce electric cars and overhaul its components division which currently makes engines, gearboxes and steering components.

General Electric Co is advising some buyers of its big power turbines to switch out faulty blades sooner than expected and has disclosed that a blade broke in 2015, according to a presentation reviewed by Reuters and people briefed on the matter.

Chinese chipmaker Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co Ltd said on Friday it has notified the Unites States that it plans to file a complaint to be taken off the export control list, according to a statement on social media.