Asian stock markets slumped Tuesday as a SARS-like virus taking hold in China spooked investors, while sentiment suffered a knock also from a credit-ratings downgrade to major financial hub Hong Kong, analysts said.

Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump have agreed to extend negotiations on a dispute over a French tax on digital giants to the end of the year, postponing Washington's threat of sanctions against Paris, a French diplomatic source said Monday.

The source said the French and US leaders, who spoke on Sunday, had agreed to give negotiations a chance to "find a solution in an international framework" and avoid "a trade war that will benefit no one". 

Easing US-China trade tensions have lessened uncertainty and the world economy may have hit bottom but a sharp slowdown in India is creating a drag worldwide, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.

Cyprus on Sunday accused Turkey of "piracy" after Ankara announced new plans to drill for oil and gas in the divided island’s maritime zone, despite the threat of EU sanctions.

Jordan's parliament Sunday voted in favor of a law to ban gas imports from Israel, weeks after the Jewish state began pumping it to the kingdom in a $10 billion deal.

The European Union has urged Turkey to drop plans to drill for oil and gas around Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean, saying such exploration was "illegal".

Libya's National Oil Company warned Friday against threats to block oil exports, the war-torn country's main income source, two days before a Berlin conference aimed at relaunching a peace process.

Dutch computer chip machine manufacturer ASML found itself on Friday at the center of a row between Beijing and Washington over the delivery of a hi-tech system to China.

Japanese car giant Toyota said Thursday it is investing nearly $400 million in a company working on commercializing electric flying cars for "fast, quiet and affordable air transportation services."

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos on Friday promised to create a million new jobs in India in a farewell love letter to the country, after ending a tough visit that reportedly included a snub by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.