Moody's kept Italy's debt rating unchanged at a low Baa2 investment grade Friday but improved its outlook from negative to stable as the country moved to choose a new premier.

The ratings agency cited the "resilience" of government finances, despite Italy's high debt and the tough challenges facing the country's economy.

For marijuana dispensaries around the country, the days of doing business in cash — driving around with bill-stuffed envelopes to pay the rent, or showing up at a state revenue office with $20,000 in paper bags for the tax man — can't end soon enough.

It's not clear that the Obama administration's new guidance on pot-related banking is going to end them.

The former CEO of Turkey's state-run Halkbank, who was arrested two months ago in a wide-ranging graft probe engulfing key government allies, has been released pending trial on Friday, media said.

Suleyman Aslan was among 24 people including the sons of three former cabinet ministers who were charged and remanded in custody as part of investigations into bribery allegations.

New growth figures on Friday should show the eurozone economy continuing only a modest recovery as key problems remain, among them near-record unemployment and the threat of deflation.

Recent data has been very mixed, especially after a much weaker-than-expected third quarter, sparking concerns the bloc risked falling back into recession.

AXA Middle-East et Visa ont signé un protocole d’accord pour la mise en place de la première carte de crédit assurance au Levant, une carte qui facilite les transactions et services à la clientèle.

Ceci a été le fruit de plusieurs mois d'études sur le terrain et une période d’essai d’un an afin de s'assurer de la faisabilité de ce service.

Japan said Friday it is moving to speed up the impact of a $50 billion stimulus package aimed at countering any slowdown from a looming sales tax hike.

The rare move -- which sets out a timeline for spending a big chunk of the special budget -- comes days before the release of fourth-quarter growth figures.

China plans to build the world's longest underwater tunnel, an expert involved in the project told Agence France Presse Friday, a $36 billion shortcut between two northern port cities in an earthquake-prone region.

The scheme will see cars loaded onto railway carriages before travelling at 220 kilometers per hour (136 miles per hour) along the 123-kilometer tunnel connecting Dalian in Liaoning province and Yantai in Shandong province.

A $160 million investment vehicle sold by China's second-largest bank has missed four scheduled payments, state media reported, as fears grow that potential financial sector defaults could roil markets in the world's second-biggest economy.

The "Songhuajiang River No.77" product, which raised a total of 972.7 million yuan ($160 million) in six tranches, had failed to repay investors' capital and interest four times by early February, the 21st Century Business Herald reported late Thursday.

Turkey, hit recently by a currency crisis, reported on Thursday that its current account deficit -- a key weak spot -- took a sharp turn for the worse in 2013.

The deficit showed an increase of $16.507 billion compared to the outcome at the same time last year, soaring to $65 billion (47 billion euros), central bank figures showed.

The chairman of Chinese computer giant Lenovo pledged Thursday to make the company the world's third-biggest smartphone seller following an acquisition binge as the firm announced a 30 percent profit surge.

Lenovo, already the world's largest personal computer vendor, snapped up US telecom firm Motorola Mobility for $2.91 billion and IBM's low-end server business for $2.3 billion within days of each other last month.