It was hot, and Carlos Dapen had spent several hours looking for a pharmacy that had his wife's medication, which has become as scarce as most groceries in crisis-hit Venezuela.

All he wanted now was a nice cold beer.

Nearly two thirds of French people say they don't trust the government to defend the country's interests in negotiations on a vast new EU-U.S. trade deal, a poll published Friday showed.

World oil prices slumped this week, retreating from 2016 highs, as the dollar rebounded and supply glut concerns returned to the fore despite disruptions to global production.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday signed into law the 2016 federal budget after months of delay caused by mistakes and discrepancies in the original spending plan.

Greece's public transport networks ground to a halt Friday after trade unions called for a 48-hour strike to protest controversial government plans to overhaul pensions and increase taxes, as demanded by international creditors.

Saudi authorities have allowed construction giant Binladin Group to tender for public building projects in the kingdom again, local media reported, just days after the firm reportedly laid off 77,000 foreign workers.

The Turkish lira remained under pressure Thursday as political uncertainty rattled investors after it emerged Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is set to step down in a move giving President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even more power.

The lira lost almost 4 percent in value against the dollar on Wednesday -- its heaviest daily loss this year -- as news broke that crisis talks between Davutoglu and Erdogan had failed to resolve tensions between the two men.

The dollar strengthened against the yen in Asia Thursday as upbeat U.S. data and speculation of a Japanese intervention helped cement gains from talk of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next month.

After dipping to an 18-month low around 105.50 yen on Tuesday, the greenback has enjoyed a minor rally in the past two days after two of the U.S. central bank's regional heads raised the possibility of tighter borrowing costs.

Oil prices climbed in Asia Thursday with Brent breaching $45 a barrel as raging wildfires threatened to cut Canadian output and a decline in U.S. crude production also boosted the commodity.

Authorities say wildfires are burning out of control in the Alberta oil sands region of Canada, which mines and ships heavy crude south to the U.S. market, and oil companies have reduced operations to facilitate the evacuation of non-essential employees.

Tunisia is confident that trade at the main border crossing with Libya will resume "very soon", local authorities said Wednesday, nearly a week after the Libyan side imposed a blockade.

"This problem will be resolved very soon," Tahar Matmati, the governor of Medenine, which lies on the principle route between Tunisia and Libya, told AFP.