The International Monetary Fund said Friday it is ready to aid Ghana after the country formally requested assistance to surmount fiscal and economic challenges.

The global crisis lender gave no information on how much money the Ghanaian authorities are requesting to bridge a deep financing gap that has resulted in a plunge in its currency.

Rating agency Fitch cut Croatia's credit grade by one notch Friday, after the government said it could miss its budget deficit target this year.

Fitch cut the rating to "BB" from "BB+", with a stable outlook.

China's annual inflation rose 2.3 percent in July, official data showed Saturday, remaining stable and allowing authorities space to further stimulate growth in the world's second-largest economy if needed.

The country's consumer price index (CPI) -- a main gauge of inflation -- also rose by 2.3 percent in the first seven months of the year from the same period in 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

Wall Street contended with rising tensions over Ukraine and Iraq, yet U.S. stocks still finished in the black for the week following a big rally Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.56 points (0.37 percent) to 16,553.93 over the week.

McDonald's suffered a drop in July sales after reports that it was using unsafe meat in China hit sales in Asia, the company said Friday.

Global comparable sales at the U.S. fast-food giant dropped 2.5 percent, with sales in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region plummeting 7.3 percent.

Dozens of flights were delayed or canceled at Istanbul's main Ataturk airport on Friday as a ferocious summer storm hit the city for the second day in a row.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded in the domestic terminal of the airport after their flights were canceled while international passengers were suffering delays of several hours, according to the airport.

Oil prices rose in Asia Friday after U.S. President Barack Obama said he had authorised air strikes against Sunni extremist militants in key crude producer Iraq. 

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery rose 71 cents to $98.05 while Brent for September gained 96 cents to $106.40 in afternoon trade.

General Motors' troubles with safety recalls have surfaced in another case, this time with the company recalling a group of SUVs for a third time to fix power window switches that can catch fire.

The problem, revealed in documents posted by federal safety regulators this week, is so serious that GM is telling customers to park the SUVs outdoors until they are repaired because they could catch fire when left unattended.

Australia on Friday called Russia's decision to ban food imports over the crisis in Ukraine disappointing, but said efforts would be made to minimise the impact on producers.

The World Trade Organization on Thursday upheld its ruling that China had violated global trade rules by restricting exports of rare earths, used in hi-tech goods like mobile phones and televisions.