China's main search engine Baidu plans to launch an online bank with financial services group Citic, the two companies said on Wednesday, as the Internet firm seeks to compete with rivals moving into banking. 

The Baixin Bank, a venture between Baidu and China Citic Bank, will be the country's first lender formed by an Internet company and a traditional bank, Baidu said in a statement.

Investor sentiment in Germany rebounded in November after seven consecutive falls thanks to still resilient economic data from Europe's top economy, a leading survey said Tuesday.

The investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute rose to 10.4 points from just 1.9 points a month earlier, the think tank said in a statement.

Britain's annual inflation rate held in negative territory in October, official data showed Tuesday.

The 12-month Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate stood at minus 0.1 percent last month, unchanged from September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

Additional spending on security in the wake of the Paris terror attacks means that France will not be able to meet its EU budget obligations, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday.

With the government planning to hire an additional 8,500 law enforcement officers, France's EU-agreed spending limits "will certainly be exceeded as these resources ... won't be taken from other budgets. We have to do this and Europe should understand this," Valls said.

Nigeria's telecoms regulator has said a $5.2 billion fine imposed on South Africa's MTN remains valid until talks with the company are concluded.

Africa's biggest mobile phone operator was handed the penalty for failing to deactivate 5.1 million unregistered SIM cards in breach of a Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) order.

Greece's international creditors are ready to pay out 12 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in much needed bailout funds and bank aid, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijssebloem said on Tuesday.

"This is good news," Dijsselbloem said in a statement, adding that the funds would be paid once the Greek parliament adopts fresh reforms on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority has announced a plan to privatize its airports by 2020, as the kingdom looks to diversify its economy to boost non-oil income.

The initiative was set to be launched in the first quarter of 2016 with the privatization of the capital's main international airport, said the state-owned General Authority for Civil Aviation.

Hundreds of people queued in Kathmandu on Monday to buy firewood after the Nepal government said it was putting thousands of kilos on sale to try to ease a crippling fuel shortage.

The move came as Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called on neighboring India to end what he called an "undeclared blockade" that has left the country desperately short of fuel and other supplies.

The euro fell against its major peers in Asia Monday as dealers shifted back to safer investments after the deadly weekend terror attacks in Paris reinforced concerns about the impact on the already struggling eurozone economy.

The risk-off mood, also stoked by fresh data showing that Japan's economy slipped back into recession in the third quarter, weighed especially on the euro as foreign exchange markets opened for the first time since the attacks that killed at least 129 people.

Japan's economy slipped into recession for the second time since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power nearly three years ago, data showed Monday, dealing a fresh blow to his drive to kickstart weak growth and end years of deflation.

Abe has staked his reputation on a policy blitz of fiscal spending, aggressive monetary policy easing and structural reforms -- dubbed Abenomics -- aimed at reviving the world's third-largest economy