France's economy, the second-largest in the eurozone, will perk up slightly in the first half of the year but unemployment is expected to stay at record highs, according to forecasts.

In estimates released late Thursday, the INSEE national statistics office said the economy would grow by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of the year and by 0.3 percent in the second.

Josh Smith, a 30-year-old blogger on finance, was in the midst of a career change in 2009 when he sought to refinance $8,000 in credit card debt.

"At the time, I was making the transition to freelance," he said. "When I asked the bank, they did not want to lend me the money because I was leaving a permanent position for freelance."

You can't miss it, rising off the main highway, a mountain of toxic soot towering over the flat, sunbaked scrubland of eastern Venezuela.

The buildup of petroleum byproduct known as coke isn't just an environmental hazard polluting the air of neighboring communities. It's a potent symbol of the waste and unfulfilled promise of an oil industry more vital than ever to Venezuela's economic health.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged India's banks to lend more to the country's millions of impoverished farmers in a bid to halt suicides by debt-laden agricultural workers.

Speaking at an event on increasing financial inclusion, Modi said he was pained to hear of increased reports of farmers taking their own lives after being unable to repay unscrupulous money lenders.

Fast-food giant McDonald's announced Wednesday that it would increase the wages of 90,000 employees in company-owned restaurants in the United States and offer them paid time-off.

The pay rise, however, will not apply to workers in McDonald's restaurants owned by franchisees, which comprise some 90 percent of the 14,000 McDonald's outlets across the country.

The European Central Bank revealed Thursday that its policy-setting governing council is increasingly confident that its controversial bond purchase programme is helping to boost the economic outlook for the eurozone. 

In the minutes of the governing council's meeting on March 4 and 5, published with a four-week delay, the ECB said that "members generally shared the assessment that significant positive effects ... could already be seen" from the new bond purchase program. 

Oil prices fell in thin pre-holiday trade in Asia Thursday after a mixed U.S. stockpiles report, while talks over crude producer Iran's nuclear program drag on, analysts said.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 52 cents to $49.57 while Brent slipped 50 cents to $56.60 in late-morning trade.

China scored a diplomatic coup by enticing almost 50 countries including key U.S. allies to join its new development bank, but analysts say authoritarian Beijing now faces a daunting task managing a multilateral institution for the first time, with members ranging from the Netherlands to Nepal.

By Tuesday's deadline to seek founding membership of the $50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) a total of 48 countries and Taiwan had applied, the finance ministry and governments said.

First it was books, then household products; now you can buy an electric car from online shopping giant Amazon.

The Japanese unit of German auto giant BMW on Wednesday started selling its i3 electric models on Amazon.co.jp

Syria's government, presiding over an economy ravaged by war and facing dwindling foreign currency reserves, is taking new measures to slash imports and prop up exports.

Importers require government licences that allow them to request a favorable exchange rate at the Syrian central bank.