The agricultural sector can act as "a bridge" between Cuba and its old Cold War foe the United States, a visiting top U.S. official said Friday.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is the third member of President Barack Obama's cabinet to visit the communist-run island after Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

The United States fined French energy and transport giant Alstom SA $772 million for bribing government officials in Indonesia, Egypt and several other countries to win business, the US Justice Department said Friday.

Alstom pleaded guilty nearly a year ago to two criminal counts related to bribery and corruption under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Growth in the 19-nation eurozone slowed to 0.3 percent in the third quarter, official data showed on Friday, with the economy in powerhouse Germany cooling as France returned to expansion.

The quarterly growth was below the analyst estimate of 0.4 percent for the period and will fuel speculation the European Central Bank will expand its vast stimulus program next month.

Beijing will back Pakistan to ensure the security of a new special economic corridor providing access to the port of Gwadar that aims to create direct links between China and the Arabian Sea, a top Chinese general has pledged. 

Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, told Pakistan army head Raheel Sharif on Thursday that Beijing looked forward to close cooperation "to ensure proper management and security of CPEC," according to a Pakistan military statement.

Economic growth in European powerhouse Germany slowed slightly in the third quarter, preliminary data showed Friday, as it braved headwinds from China's economy and the Volkswagen pollution scandal.

Europe's largest economy expanded by 0.3 percent in the July-September period on a quarterly basis, the federal statistics office said. That compared to growth of 0.4 percent in the previous quarter.

Oil prices remained under pressure in Asia Friday after a huge jump in U.S. crude inventories reinforced projections that a supply glut will persist well into next year.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in December was down 22 cents to $41.53 and Brent crude for December was trading two cents higher at $44.08 a barrel at around 0720 GMT.

China on Thursday put into circulation a new version of its 100-yuan banknote -- the highest denomination available in the world's second-largest economy -- with added golden touches that the government said was harder to forge.

The note, worth just under $16, retains its overall red colour, with Communist founder Mao Zedong on one side and Beijing's Great Hall of the People on the other.

British Prime Minister David Cameron faced claims of hypocrisy Thursday after he wrote to his local council complaining about cuts to services prompted by his own government's austerity savings.

Cameron voiced disappointment that libraries, museums and day care centres for elderly people were being cut in Oxfordshire, the county west of London which includes his parliamentary seat of Witney.

Russia's second-largest bank VTB said on Thursday it would not renew a sponsorship contract with athletics' world governing body but insisted the decision has nothing to do with the doping scandal engulfing the sport.

"It (the contract) has expired," VTB first deputy president Vasily Titov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti state news agency. 

Oil prices rose in Asia Thursday, bouncing back from a sharp fall the day before but expectations of another build in U.S. crude inventories cast a shadow on the market.

Traders are waiting for the release later Thursday of data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showing the country's commercial stockpiles for an indication of demand in the world's top crude consumer.