Airbus's new A350 plane is due to take off on its much-anticipated maiden flight Friday, a milestone for an aircraft the firm hopes will help close the gap with rival Boeing in the lucrative long-haul market.

Weather permitting, the next-generation plane will lift off from the southwestern city of Toulouse at 0800GMT with six people on board -- a British and a French test pilot, a flight engineer and three other engineers at the back.

Austrian construction firm Porr announced on Wednesday it was to sign a 1.89-billion-euro ($2.5-billion) contract to build one of Doha's new metro lines, as part of a consortium with two Qatari partners, SBG and HBK.

This was the second such contract for European firms in three days.

The British Bankers' Association on Wednesday announced changes to Libor interest-rate transparency in a bid to avoid a repeat of last year's rate-rigging scandal.

The BBA said publication of banks' individual submissions would be embargoed for three months in a move aimed at avoiding possible "manipulation of the rate".

Spanish textile giant Inditex, owner of the Zara brand, announced Wednesday a rise in quarterly profit as it pursued a global expansion with a string of new stores including in Japan, China and Russia.

The spread of Inditex's worldwide reach boosted sales by 5.2 percent from a year earlier to 3.59 billion euros ($4.8 billion) in the three months to April 30, the first quarter of the firm's 2013 business year.

Tourists planning to flock to Brazil for the World Cup a year from now should brace for some of the world's highest housing, restaurant and transport prices.

Prices have gone through the roof, particularly in the country's tourism gateway Rio, which this month is one of the hosts for football's Confederations Cup and in July welcomes Pope Francis for a major Catholic Youth festival.

From 24 to 30 June, Beirut Design Week 2013 will be held across Beirut City, featuring exhibitions, conferences, workshops and open studios showcasing the work of local and international designers operating within Lebanon. This year’s event will focus on creative economies, intercultural exchange, design education and design entrepreneurship.

Beirut Design Week is organized by the MENA Design Research Center, an organization cofounded by Maya Karanouh and Doreen Toutikan and incubated by TAGbrands, a regional branding and design agency. The Center is focused on promoting a diverse understanding of design through the implementation of design research and collaborative multidisciplinary projects in the region.

The escalation in the clashes between Turkey's government and protesters could hurt one of the world's recent economic success stories, spelling uncertainty for a country that has become a source of growth and stability in a region hit by recession and unrest.

At first, the 12-day protests, which were sparked by plans to bulldoze and redevelop a park in central Istanbul but have widened to incorporate concerns over the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, were largely peaceful and limited in size and scope. They weren't very different from the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York.

A last-minute Russian pullout from a major gas privatization has blown a huge hole in Greece's yearly revenue goals during an audit by EU-IMF creditors, raising questions over deficit management in the next six months.

Russian giant Gazprom declined on Monday to table an offer for Greek state gas distributor DEPA, citing concerns about the company's financial viability.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded its outlook Monday for the U.S. government's long-term debt. S&P cited the government's strengthened finances, a recovering U.S. economy and some easing of Washington's political gridlock.

The credit rating service raised its outlook to "Stable" from "Negative," which means it's less likely to downgrade U.S. debt in the near future.

Spaniards are buying fewer cars, fewer clothes and even cutting back on smoking as a grinding recession and rising unemployment force them to slash spending, dealing a severe blow to manufacturers and shops.

Last week, the headlines surrounding big brands such as Spanish fashion retailer Blanco and tobacco group Altadis highlighted the fallout of the consumer slump in Spain.