A secretive group of global power brokers including politicians, bankers, business titans and European royalty gather behind closed doors starting Thursday to debate the merits of Donald Trump's fledgling US presidency.

Unemployment in Germany hit a new historic low in May, official data showed on Wednesday, in a sign that Europe's largest economy remains in rude health.

Japanese employers are scrambling to find staff, unemployment is at its lowest level in more than two decades and the labour market is tighter than it was during Japan's booming bubble economy years.

This should be great news for the world's number three economy, but analysts are warning not to pop the champagne quite yet because it is mostly due to a shrinking labour force. And many jobs are temporary and pay very little.

Saudi Aramco is to build the region's biggest shipyard in a $5.2 billion joint venture with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries and others, the partners said on Wednesday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged Spanish firms to invest in India, saying the fast-growing country offered "many opportunities" in areas ranging from tourism to energy.

Prices for real estate in Paris are set to reach new records this summer, as buyers -- many of them Britons -- scramble to get their hands on flats in the French capital's most well-heeled districts, a survey of notaries showed on Tuesday.

With oil production at its lowest in years, a total halt in phosphate exports and power generation sharply reduced, Syria's economy is on its knees, government ministers have said. 

Spain's economy minister on Tuesday raised the government's growth forecast for 2017 to "around three percent" from 2.7 percent due to a stronger-than-expected performance at the start of the year.

"We started this year at cruising speed, which indicates growth will be around three percent," Luis de Guindos told lawmakers during a debate on this year's budget.

Most Asian markets fell in holiday-thinned trade on Tuesday, with dealers keeping tabs on a developing scandal around Donald Trump's administration.

Passengers faced a third day of disruption at Heathrow on Monday as British Airways canceled short-haul flights after a global computer crash that unions blamed on the outsourcing of IT services to India.