North Korea's economy contracted for the first time in five years in 2015, the South's central bank said Friday, undermining leader Kim Jong-Un's stated policy of simultaneous military and economic development.

The isolated North's gross domestic product appeared to have shrunk 1.1 percent last year -- the first downturn since 2010 and the sharpest fall since 2007, the Bank of Korea said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Thursday said top economies should refrain from competitive currency devaluations -- a message likely directed at China, which hosts a G20 finance ministers meeting this weekend.

Malaysia has been gripped for more than a year by allegations that billions of dollars were looted from state investment fund 1MDB in an audacious campaign of fraud and money laundering.

The flood of billions of dollars out of China slowed dramatically in the second quarter, official figures showed Thursday, despite the yuan's persistent weakness making it less attractive to hold.

Britain should not be able to access the EU's single market without allowing free movement of EU citizens, French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday.

Oil prices edged up in Asia Thursday following U.S. data showing a drop in inventories and tracking gains across regional markets, while traders await central bank policy meetings in Europe and Japan.

Singapore revealed Thursday it had seized nearly $180 million in assets through its investigations into suspected fraud and money-laundering related to scandal-tainted Malaysian state fund 1MDB.

It added that half those assets were linked to Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian businessman and a close family friend of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Embattled German auto giant Volkswagen said Wednesday it booked another huge charge related to the engine-rigging scandal on its first-half accounts, but insisted that profits came in better than expected overall and it would stick to its full-year targets.

Oil prices on Wednesday recovered from two-month lows, as traders reacted to a drop in crude inventories in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Energy reported that crude stockpiles dropped by 2.3 million barrels last week, offsetting a surprise rise in gasoline inventories during the peak demand season for American motor fuel.

In a stunning blow to Malaysia's political establishment, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it was moving to seize more than $1 billion in assets allegedly tied to corruption at a state-owned investment fund.

In court papers filed in California, federal prosecutors listed the Hollywood financial crime caper "The Wolf of Wall Street" and nearly twenty other assets to be seized, including lavish real estate from Beverly Hills to a penthouse in New York's Time Warner Center to London's high-end Belgravia neighborhood.