Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit back Friday at the mounting criticism of his decision to withdraw all high-denomination bank notes from circulation, describing the move as "for the larger social good".

The Turkish central bank on Thursday announced it was hiking its main interest rate by 50 basis points, in a bid to counter a drastic fall in the value of the lira.

The head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday urged US President-elect Donald Trump to continue with a landmark trans-pacific trade deal, but said the region would press on with key accords regardless of his decision.

The US-led Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership (TPP), promoted by outgoing US President Barack Obama as part of his Asia pivot, liberalises inter-regional trade among 12 countries but Trump has charged it will cost the US jobs and hurt American businesses.

China's largest online travel agency Ctrip will buy British flight search app Skyscanner for $1.7 billion, the companies said, as it steps up its overseas ambitions.

The travel service provider will pay £1.4 billion, mainly in cash, for the Edinburgh-based firm, they said in separate statements late Wednesday.

Around 9,000 people living illegally in Qatar are expected to leave the country under an ongoing three-month amnesty for undocumented residents, a senior immigration official has told AFP.

The United Nations Program for Human Settlements (U.N.-Habitat) and the Italian Government represented by the Embassy of Italy in Beirut have hosted a launching event of the Project entitled “Promoting national and local urban systems approaches”, U.N.-Habitat Lebanon said on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday she's not happy about the possible demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which President-elect Donald Trump wants to pull the U.S. out of. She argued that alternative pacts will be a poor substitute.

Merkel didn't mention Trump directly in a speech to the German Parliament in which she called for nations to take a multilateral approach to solving global problems, but made plain her unease at his approach to major trade pacts.

Most Asian markets rose again Wednesday, tracking a record close on Wall Street, while the dollar held onto its gains against the yen on expectations of a US interest rate rise.

European and U.S. law officials arrested at least 178 people in an international swoop against so-called "money mules" who helped launder millions of dollars, EU agencies announced Tuesday.

Power-hungry Vietnam scrapped plans for two multi-billion dollar nuclear power plants on Tuesday, citing environmental and financial reasons after the cost of the projects skyrocketed.