"Problems in the rest of the world are increasingly weighing on Asia, " Capital Economics economist Gareth Leather said.

WSJ: Asian Manufacturing Growth Slows, Data Show

Singapore will give first-class passengers no ordinary bland flight cabin, but a plush wood-and-leather affair that it has designed after studying how the world's five-star hotels do it.

ECONOMIST: Asian airlines

The one we all prefer to remember is the cool, leather-clad rockabilly version that dramatically burst upon the world stage in the 1950s, but the overweight, caped Vegas version still has a hold on the popular imagination.

FORBES: Elvis, Nixon And The New Normal

Beyond the safe global standard of jackets or blazers, khaki or gray slacks, and leather shoes, below is a primer to how business casual varies around the world.

BBC: ��Business casual�� attire around the world

Microsoft's rejection of skeuomorphism - the idea that applications need to look like their real-world equivalents - distinguishes it from Apple's OS X whose calendar app features a leather-skinned interface with ripped paper to hint at earlier entries.

BBC: Windows 8 and the Surface tablets: The experts weigh in