A raft of retaliatory tariffs from the European Union against stiff metals duties imposed by US President Donald Trump will come into effect on Friday, a top EU official said.

From blue jeans to motorbikes and whiskey, the EU's hit-list of products targeted for tariffs with the US reads like a long list of emblematic American exports.

Clashes between rival groups in Libya's key oil export ports have caused output to drop by nearly half, the head of the National Oil Company said on Wednesday. 

New pipelines could be laid to bring Russian gas through North Korea to the South and even on to Japan following the diplomatic thaw with Pyongyang, Seoul's leader suggested Wednesday.

Iran's oil minister on Tuesday said his country would resist unwinding a landmark OPEC agreement to cap oil production, and blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for pushing up crude prices.

Payment systems giant Visa said Tuesday that a massive technical glitch earlier this month had affected 5.2 million card transactions, almost half of which were in Britain.

Visa, revealing the details in a letter to a British parliamentary committee that is probing the matter, said the "rare" disruption prevented many cardholders form making payments in Europe for 10 hours on Friday June 1.

A surge of construction in the Midwestern United States last month brought American homebuilding to its fastest pace since before the financial crisis, according to government data released Tuesday.

Most French companies hoping to keep doing business in Iran after the US imposes new sanctions on the country will find it impossible to do so, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday.

Beijing on Tuesday accused Donald Trump of "blackmail" and warned it would retaliate in kind after the US president threatened to impose fresh tariffs on Chinese goods, pushing the world's two biggest economies closer to a trade war.

A Russian government proposal to hike the state pension age to 63 for women and 65 for men had as of Monday seen more than 1.5 million people sign a petition against the move.

Hindered by strikes and outdated equipment, French air traffic control is responsible for a third of aviation delays in Europe, Le Parisien said Monday, citing a senate finance committee report.