President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday lashed out at Turkey's central bank over its refusal to cut interest rates, prompting new losses for the embattled Turkish lira against the dollar.

China has set new rules to curb risks at its policy banks, stepping up oversight of the country's financial system as Beijing looks to avert a feared debt crisis in the world's number two economy.

For the first time, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) will impose specific rules designed in part to reduce financial risk at three banks tasked with funding Beijing's pet projects and supporting Chinese companies abroad.

Palestinians in Gaza desperately waiting for a reconciliation agreement to improve their lives haven't seen much change yet -- but at least cigarettes are cheaper.

Under the deal agreed last month, Islamist movement Hamas is supposed to return control of the Gaza Strip, which it has ruled for a decade, to the Palestinian Authority by December 1.

Greece on Wednesday offered to exchange some 30 billion euros ($35 billion) in bonds in a new market test for the country seeking to emerge from its latest bailout.

Venezuela is set on Wednesday to sign a debt restructuring deal with Russia, one of its main creditors and a strategic ally during a crisis that has seen Caracas declared in partial default.

Oil prices tumbled more than one percent on Wednesday in ASia, extending the previous day's sharp falls after the International Energy Agency warned of weakening demand.

Airbus is due to announce the sale of 430 of its medium-range A320 family of aircraft to US investment firm Indigo Partners in a deal worth more than $40 billion, a source said Wednesday.

Global equity markets faltered Tuesday, slipping into the red after a weaker opening on Wall Street, as investors awaited key speeches from powerful central bank chiefs.

After long years of punishingly low oil prices, there is "increasing evidence" that the oil market is moving closer to reaching a healthy balance between supply and demand, OPEC said on Monday.

Iraq aims to double the output of oilfields in the northern province of Kirkuk retaken from the Kurds to one million barrels per day (bpd), Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaybi said Monday.