Iran's annual oil and gas fair opens in Tehran on Tuesday, with 600 foreign companies seeking to position themselves for a return to large-scale operations if international sanctions are lifted.

With some of the world's biggest oil and gas reserves, the industry is the cornerstone of Iran's economy, but it was heavily hit by an American and European embargo on the energy and banking sectors in 2012.

Syria's tourism minister has forecast a "prosperous tourist season" for the central province of Homs, despite three years of raging conflict that has flattened much of the provincial capital.

In remarks carried by the state news agency SANA, Bisher Yazigi pledged help for the area, predicting a prosperous tourism season because "various activities are planned... during the summer".

Employees at the government-run Rafick Hariri University Hospital were up in arms on Monday about the delay in receiving their salaries for the months of March and April, the state-run National News Agency reported.

“The month of May is about to end, and so far we have not yet received our salaries for the months of March and April,” the employees and contract workers at the hospital said in a statement.

Indonesian growth slowed more than expected in the first quarter, official data showed Monday, as weak exports and tight monetary policy weighed on Southeast Asia's top economy.

Growth in the archipelago nation has been easing over the past year as Chinese demand for key commodities slows, foreign investors are put off by policies perceived as nationalistic and interest rate hikes curb lending.

China's manufacturing sector contracted for a fourth consecutive month in April, HSBC said Monday, the latest sign that the world's second-largest economy is slowing.

The British banking giant's purchasing managers index (PMI) came in at 48.1 for last month, a tad up from 48.0 in March but weaker than the 48.3 reported in its preliminary report on April 23.

Portugal decided to make a clean break from its EU-IMF bailout on Sunday, following in the footsteps of Ireland by forgoing a credit line as it prepares a full return to the credit markets.

The decision, made during an evening cabinet meeting, came after the country passed the final bailout audit by EU-IMF experts on Friday, thereby closing out the essential part of its 78-billion-euro three-year rescue.

Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, is working on a plan to exit India, media reports said Saturday, amid political uncertainty about the future of multi-brand retail in the South Asian giant.

The reports in the Times of India and Business Standard and other dailies come as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), tipped to win India's marathon general election which winds up in mid-May, declared it opposes allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.

DR Congo, one of the world's biggest gold producers, on Friday formally opened one of the continent's largest gold mines in the far northeast of the country.

Production at the Kibali mine started in the third quarter of 2013 but Mining Minister Martin Kabwelulu on Friday attended an official ceremony in the Province-Orientale region.

Spain's interest rate for borrowing 10-year funds fell below 3.0 percent on Friday for the first time since 2005, in a further sign that the eurozone debt crisis is fading.

On the secondary market, where debt already issued is traded, the interest rate or yield indicated by the rising value of the bonds fell to 2.996 percent briefly during morning trading, but then rose to 3.0 percent.

Unemployment in the eurozone eased, with the rate edging down to 11.8 percent in March, according to official data on Friday, with small signs of improvement in Greece's high jobless rate. 

But the ravages of economic crisis on job prospects for young people were also highlighted, particularly in Greece and Spain.