Russia's energy minister said Friday that he was in favor of continuing cooperation with the OPEC oil cartel as their joint accord to cap output bears fruit in boosting the price of crude.

An increasing amount of Chinese-made components are reaching the U.S. market through Mexico and Canada, at the expense of American manufacturers, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday.

On the eve of the third round of talks aimed at revamping the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement -- which U.S. President Donald Trump has vilified and repeatedly threatened to abandon -- the U.S. released figures showing how China is benefiting from the pact, replacing American-made material.

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday signed sweeping changes to France's complex labor code into law, ramming through a landmark reform four months into his administration despite protests from hardline unions.

Asian markets turned lower Friday as investors cashed in at the end of a mostly positive week while the dollar weakened against its main peers with analysts questioning the chances of a third US interest rate hike this year.

The dollar fell back against the euro Thursday but firmed against the yen, as markets assessed the Federal Reserve's outlook for U.S. interest rates.

A landmark free trade deal linking EU and Canada went into effect on Thursday despite lingering opposition from activists worried about the pact's consequences on the environment and health.

A referendum on independence for Iraqi Kurdistan set for September 25 comes as the autonomous region faces the worst economic crisis in its short history.

Taiwan's struggling smartphone maker HTC said on Thursday it would sell part of its smartphone business to Google for $1.1 billion as the US giant looks to take greater control of its hardware business.

Toshiba said Wednesday it would sell its memory chip business to a group led by U.S. investor Bain Capital, in a deal worth around $18 billion and seen as crucial to keeping the Japanese conglomerate afloat.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday that the U.S. will fall short of its ambitious economic growth goals unless it can accelerate promised policy changes, including tax reform.

The Trump administration has said it will push US growth to three percent annually -- a rate economists say is unrealistic, given the low U.S. unemployment rate, among other factors.