Dubai business magnate Mohamed Alabbar announced Sunday the launch of a $1-billion regional e-commerce site in a joint venture with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and other Gulf investors.

Iranian investors are pouring money into Kish island in the Gulf, hoping its white sand beaches, coral reefs and more relaxed Islamic rules, could make it a major tourism destination.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday made an emotional appeal to people to make India graft-free, as chaotic scenes erupted outside banks nationwide after high denomination notes were pulled from circulation.

Toyota has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit and pay approximately $3.4 billion to owners of trucks and SUVs in the United States who complained that their vehicles lacked proper rust protection.

The agreement relates to some 1.5 million Toyota Tacomas, Sequoias and Tundras sold in the United States by the Japanese manufacturer between 2005 and 2010.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Sunday inaugurated a trade route linking southwestern Gwadar port to the Chinese city of Kashgar as part of a joint multi-billion-dollar project to jumpstart economic growth in the South Asian country.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister said it was "imperative" that OPEC nations finalize an agreement over a cut in oil production aimed at boosting crude prices, Algerian media said Sunday.

The International Monetary Fund on Friday approved a three-year, $12 billion loan for Egypt to help the country recover from its deep economic crisis.

OPEC said Friday that it pumped oil at record levels last month even though the cartel aims to agree a production cut in less than three weeks in an effort to boost prices.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed in September in Algiers to trim production but the accord still has to be finalised on November 30 in Vienna.

In a bright spot for China's cooling economy, online shoppers spent billions of dollars Friday on "Singles Day," a quirky holiday that has grown into the world's busiest day for e-commerce.

The country's biggest e-commerce brand, Alibaba Group, said sales by the thousands of retailers on its platforms passed 82.4 billion yuan ($12 billion) in the first 12 hours of the event. That is four times the $3 billion research firm comScore says Americans spent in total last year on Cyber Monday, the country's biggest online shopping day.

Creditors of South Korea's STX Offshore and Shipbuilding on Friday narrowly approved a debt restructuring plan, avoiding the imminent liquidation of what was once the country's fourth largest shipbuilder.

The agreement came a week after the bankruptcy court handling the case said it had received bids from four foreign shipbuilders for the troubled shipyard and its profitable French unit, which makes cruise ships.