On the 25th anniversary of the execution of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, life in the small Romanian port town of Zimnicea is defined by poverty, corruption and, remarkably, a yearning for communist days.

This industrial city of 15,000 symbolises the fortunes of the EU's second poorest country as it has tried to rebuild since Ceausescu was killed by a firing squad on December 25, 1989, after a popular rebellion pushed him from power. 

From desert camping to luxury hotels, turtle-watching, and even the Arabian Peninsula's first Italian-style opera house, Oman is hoping to carve out a place on the global tourist track.

Heavily reliant on energy exports, the tiny Gulf sultanate is keen to diversify its economy, especially as the drop in global oil prices begins to bite.

The Iraqi cabinet on Tuesday approved a $102.5 billion budget for 2015 based on a projected oil price of $60 a barrel, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's spokesman said.

Rafid Jaboori also said that the projected deficit for the year is $19.1 billion. He did not give details on how the funds will be allocated.

Israel's antitrust authority is challenging the ownership structure of the country's natural gas resources, a decision that could rattle an increasingly important industry.

A U.S.-Israeli conglomerate has been developing most of Israel's offshore natural gas deposits. It sells gas to the Israeli market and has agreed to sell to neighboring countries as well.

OPEC will not cut oil production even if the price drops to $20 a barrel and it is unfair to expect the cartel to reduce output if non-members do not, Saudi Arabia said.

"Whether it goes down to $20 a barrel, $40, $50, $60, it is irrelevant," the kingdom's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in an interview with the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), an industry weekly. 

At a sturgeon farm on a pristine lake near southern Dalat town, a worker hoists a large white fish out off the water. "It's an albino," says Vietnam's eccentric 'Caviar King' Le Anh Duc adding triumphantly, "Gold eggs!"

Not only are the eggs from the rare sturgeon -- Duc has just 40 albinos out of half a million fish -- an off-white 'gold' colour but they are also a money-spinner.

Israel's Bank Leumi Group has admitted to helping U.S. taxpayers hide assets and agreed to pay a $270 million fine to settle a criminal probe, the Department of Justice announced Monday.

From at least 2000 until early 2011, Leumi sent private bankers from Israel and elsewhere to meet with U.S. taxpayers and help them conceal assets at Leumi locations in Israel, Switzerland and Luxembourg. 

Cuba's nascent private sector is bracing for an influx of visitors should the U.S. embargo ease, but many businesses in the communist country appear unprepared for a torrent of tourists.

Currently, most hotels, guest houses and restaurants in Cuba are state-owned, though the number of private enterprises has grown in recent years.

Europe's main stock markets rose strongly on Monday in a renewed "Santa Claus rally" powered by a modest recovery in oil prices, dealers said.

In late morning deals in the British capital, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares jumped 1.02 percent to 6,611.96 points compared with Friday's close.

Russia's central bank said Monday it had placed the troubled Trust Bank under supervision and would bail it out with 30 billion rubles (430 million euros, $525 million) to avoid bankruptcy.

It did not say if the problems of the lender, whose products are advertised by Hollywood actor Bruce Willis, were linked to the fall of the ruble, which has weakened Russia's financial system.