Canada asked the World Trade Organization on Thursday to arbitrate an ongoing trade row with China over its imposition of punitive tariffs on bleached wood pulp.

Trade Minister Ed Fast said an investigation China had carried out into Canada selling the forestry product at slashed prices was flawed, so the Asian country's reaction to restrict Canadian imports was unwarranted.

It's another "troika" bound up in Greece's debt drama, with their own set of torments.

The three Greek reporters assigned to the International Monetary Fund in Washington are supposed to cover dispassionately what the Fund says.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem agreed Thursday to renew efforts to resolve a bitter row over extending Greece's current bailout after talks overnight collapsed acrimoniously.

The breakthrough was made on the sidelines of an European Union summit and comes after talks Wednesday between Greek Finance Minister Yaris Varoufakis and his 18 eurozone counterparts ended without an accord after six tense hours.

The Venezuelan government's bank accounts at the Swiss division of HSBC, which were revealed in the "SwissLeaks" scandal, are "totally transparent," said the South American country's economy minister.

Venezuela ranked third among the countries with the largest dollar amounts in the leaked Swiss files, behind Switzerland and Britain, journalists with access to the secret documents said at the weekend.

The International Monetary Fund and conflict-torn Ukraine have reached a preliminary deal on a new financial rescue plan worth $17.5 billion that could be a "turning point" for Kiev, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday.

In total, Ukraine will receive $40 billion (35 billion euros) in assistance over four years coupled with bilateral loans from other sources, Lagarde said, helping to stabilize Kiev's finances after 10 months of conflict in the east.

A former HSBC employee who leaked documents alleging the bank helped wealthy customers dodge tax said Wednesday he had tried to alert British authorities about evasion in 2008.

The leaks about the Swiss arm of Britain's largest bank have caused shockwaves across the world and sparked a political furore in London.

Inflation in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, dipped into negative territory in January for the first time in five years, largely due to lower energy prices, data showed on Thursday.

The annual rate of inflation in Germany stood at -0.4 percent last month, the federal statistics office, Destatis, calculated in final data.

Greece plans joint military exercises with Israel, Cyprus and Egypt, Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said Wednesday, amid continuing tensions between Cyprus and Turkey over oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

Kammenos, visiting close ally Cyprus, said the two countries, along with Israel and "possibly" Egypt would begin joint exercises within the coming months aimed at improving regional security.

A power blackout hit most of the energy-rich Gulf state of Kuwait Wednesday, disrupting traffic and a number of vital facilities but without affecting oil installations.

The electricity and water ministry said a technical problem at one of the country's five power plants forced it to cut power as a precautionary measure to protect the network, according the KUNA news agency.

Low oil prices normally help grease the wheels of business and spur global economic growth, but Moody's said Wednesday it would not revise its forecasts for the G20, citing a variety of offsets to the expected windfalls.

"For the G20 economies, we expect GDP growth of just under 3.0 percent each year in 2015 and 2016, unchanged from 2014 and from our November 2014 Global Macro Outlook," the credit ratings agency said in its latest outlook report.