The Turkish Karadeniz power company, which leased the “Fatmagul Sultan” power vessel to the Lebanese government, announced on Thursday that the fuel it had received to operate the ship “was not convenient”, explaining the reasons for the barge's malfunction.

"Shortly after the production process had started, the results of tests conducted by international laboratories revealed that the fuel we have been receiving was not convenient,” a statement issued by the company said.

A Japanese-French consortium has won a $22 billion dollar contract to build a nuclear power plant on Turkey's Black Sea coast, a senior energy ministry official said on Thursday.

"An inter-governmental agreement is expected to be signed between the prime ministers of both countries on Friday," the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

The head of France Telecom complained on Thursday of interference after the state blocked plans by U.S. Internet firm Yahoo! to buy a majority stake in French video-sharing website Dailymotion.

In an interview with business newspaper Les Echos, chief executive Stephane Richard said the firm's management -- and not the government -- should be deciding the strategy for Dailymotion, owned by France Telecom, which uses the brand name Orange.

European Council chief Herman Van Rompuy said Wednesday he had assured visiting Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta that the European Union will remain "flexible" while debt-laden Rome pursues the goal of sound public finances.

"I reiterated that the EU will continue to stand by Italy in pursuing our common commitment to overcome the economic crisis and promoting growth and jobs, in making full use of the existing flexibility while keeping sound public finance as a key objective," Van Rompuy said after meeting with the new Italian leader.

Chinese home prices picked up in April in their fifth consecutive monthly rise, an independent survey showed on Thursday.

The cost of a new home in 100 major cities rose 5.3 percent year-on-year to an average 10,098 yuan ($1,638) per square metre, said the China Index Academy.

Thousands took to the streets of Rabat and Casablanca on Wednesday demanding jobs and higher pay during May Day demonstrations marked by tension, with a large security contingent deployed in the capital.

Several thousand people marched up Rabat's central boulevard around midday, waving Moroccan and Berber flags, holding placards and chanting slogans, some of them strongly critical of the government.

The world economy is still not growing fast enough to generate jobs for tens of millions who have become unemployed but it is strengthening gradually, a top IMF official said Wednesday.

While global growth is seen at 3.3 percent in 2013 and an even better four percent next year, this masks significant divergence in prospects, said Naoyuki Shinohara, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Kuwait plans to increase service charges on foreigners, media reports said Wednesday, triggering the ire of the main labor union which also blasted the government for deporting hundreds of expatriates.

State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah al-Sabah said in comments published Wednesday that the government has sent a draft law seeking to raise public services charges on expatriates.

A strike stopped ferry services to the Greek islands and disrupted public transport in the capital Athens ahead of May Day protests Wednesday against Greece's prolonged economic austerity policies.

Ferry services were expected to be halted the entire day as the Panhellenic Seamens' Union took part in the general strike called for by the country's two main unions.

Turkish riot police used water canon and tear gas on Wednesday in a bid to disperse hundreds of protesters who defied a Labor Day ban on demonstrations in a central part of Istanbul.

The ban was imposed to avoid trouble during renovation work taking place at the symbolic Taksim square, a traditional rallying point.