Italy's recovery from recession virtually stalled towards the end of 2015, complicating Italian efforts at debt reduction, worse-than-anticipated growth figures indicated Friday.

National statistics body Istat said total GDP for 2015 was up 0.7 percent on the previous year.

Venezuela's Supreme Court has approved President Nicolas Maduro's request for special powers to tackle a deepening economic crisis, overriding opposition from lawmakers to place the oil giant in a 60-day state of emergency.

In a ruling late Thursday, the court said the decree issued by the socialist president last month had entered into force, granting him expanded authority over the moribund economy of the oil-rich, cash-poor South American country for two months.

Oil surged more than five percent in Asia Friday, a day after tanking towards 13-year lows and following a report suggesting the OPEC producers' club was open to working towards cutting output to stabilize volatile crude markets.

Prices for both key contracts dived Thursday in line with a sell-off across on markets worldwide as traders grow increasingly concerned about the state of the global economy, and the possibility of a return to recession.

The German economy, Europe's biggest, grew by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, driven primarily by robust domestic demand, the federal statistics office Destatis said on Friday.

Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.3 percent in the period from October to December, the same rate of growth as in the preceding three months, Destatis said in a statement.

India and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday signed deals in fields ranging from space technology to renewable energy during a visit to New Delhi by Abu Dhabi's crown prince, the Indian foreign ministry said.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed the deals following talks in the Indian capital New Delhi.

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that its managing director, Christine Lagarde, is the sole candidate for the new term that begins in July.

Named to head the IMF in July 2011 for five years, Lagarde officially entered her nomination for a second term on January 22. She has received numerous expressions of support from officials in Europe, the United States and Latin America.

Tunisia said on Thursday it had fired the governor of the neglected but phosphate-rich Gafsa region, with an official citing "failings" in the management of labor relations in the mining sector.

The decision comes after protests spread across Tunisia last month, including in Gafsa, in some of the worst social unrest since the 2011 revolution.

World oil prices tumbled once more Thursday, nearing a 13-year low in New York, with no end in sight to the global supply glut.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March hit $26.32 a barrel, close to a 13-year low of under $26.

French oil company Total said Thursday it had cut its investment target this year as it steps up efforts to drastically cut costs to counter a global collapse in oil prices. 

Total said it would invest up to two billion dollars less in 2016 than originally planned, as it, like other oil giants, grapples with weak oil prices that have slumped around 70 percent since mid-2014 due to chronic oversupply.

World stocks slumped Thursday, gripped by another fierce sell-off after a warning by Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen over the global economy, while oil fell close to 12-year lows.

New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average sank overnight as Yellen also played down the chances of another U.S. interest rate hike any time soon.