Rating firm Moody's again lowered Ukraine's credit rating by a notch on Friday, citing the "escalation" of its political crisis, and put the country on a "negative" outlook for further downgrades.

Moody's Investors Service pushed the country's rating deeper into speculative territory, to "Caa3" from "Caa2" -- a one-notch move matching the rating firm's prior downgrade in January.

The boss of a Bitcoin company in Cyprus has fled abroad days after it suddenly stopped operations, in a blow to the virtual currency's once vaunted prospects on the island.

Privately owned television channel Sigma TV said Thursday that it had repeatedly tried to contact Neo & Bee CEO Danny Brewster, but to no avail.

Britain's state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland revealed Friday it has poached Credit Suisse banker Ewen Stevenson, a key adviser in the group's vast bailout, to be chief financial officer.

RBS said in a statement that Stevenson, who is currently Credit Suisse's London-based co-head of investment banking for Europe, Middle East and Africa, will join on May 19.

Plans to drill for oil off the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza have met with fierce opposition from locals who fear the white sand beaches and marine life will be damaged.

"Everyone is against it here," said Carlos Bravo of the Blue Sea Alliance, an umbrella organisation of 50 groups including environmentalists, hoteliers and unions, seeking to halt oil exploration off Ibiza and Formentera, a neighbouring island that is only accessible by boat.

German industrial orders, a key measure of demand for German-made goods both at home and abroad, rose in February, but not as strongly as the previous month, data showed Friday.

Industrial orders were up 0.6 in February compared with the level in January, boosted primarily by domestic orders, the economy ministry said in a statement.

A new Syrian commercial airline plans to start operating to several Arab cities next month, its chairman told Agence France Presse on Thursday, despite the conflict raging in the country.

"We hope to operate our first flights in mid-May," Kinda Airlines chairman Naim al-Jarrah said, adding that the exact timing of the launch hangs on international insurance issues and aircraft testing.

Two major Japanese utilities are reportedly asking for a combined $1.5 billion in bailout funds, underscoring the strain on power companies' balance sheets after the Fukushima atomic crisis.

Kyushu Electric Power and Hokkaido Electric Power are in separate talks with the government-linked Development Bank of Japan as they struggle to contain mounting debt, the leading Nikkei business daily and other Japanese media reported this week.

France's new Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Thursday that the "pace" of the country's deficit reduction would be discussed with the European Union.

In his first public comments since being named on Wednesday, Sapin said he would work with the European Commission to "find the path to common interests" as the EU pushes France to reduce its deficit.

The European Central Bank is not expected to cut its key interest rates on Thursday, even though inflation in the euro area slowed sharply last month, analysts said.

The ECB has held eurozone borrowing costs at their current all-time lows since November.

China has announced a set of steps to boost slowing growth in the world's number-two economy, including extending tax breaks for small businesses and support measures for poor urban districts.

The State Council, China's cabinet, announced the mini stimulus late Wednesday after a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.