Turkey is set to make a "clean break" with the International Monetary Fund by paying off its remaining debt by May, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

"We have been paying and paying... Right now the debt stands at $860 million (643 million euros)," Erdogan said in televised remarks.

U.S. stocks stumbled through the week on a mix of dull earnings and weak forecasts before encouraging data from both Beijing and Washington edged the indices to fresh multi-year highs on Friday.

The catalyst for Friday's jump was a sharply narrowed U.S. trade deficit in December -- driven by both lower oil imports and rising oil exports -- that pointed to a better economy in the 2012 fourth quarter than data has suggested.

Be polite but not too familiar, display lucky symbols and take things slowly -- unusual advice for the frantic world of retail but Australian stores hope it will help lure cashed-up Chinese tourists.

As Sydney gears up to host one of the world's biggest Chinese New Year celebrations, officials are working to help struggling retailers use the key tourism event to set their cash registers ringing.

U.S. firm Las Vegas Sands said Friday it was set to go ahead with building a huge casino near Madrid, which could create hundreds of thousands of jobs at a time of record unemployment in Spain.

The controversial "Eurovegas" project plans to build four casino complexes with 12 hotels providing 36,000 rooms, nine theaters, three golf courses, and convention centers over 10-15 years.

Venezuela said it was devaluing its currency by 32 percent against the dollar on the orders of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez, in part to trim a bloated budget deficit.

The bolivar will go from 4.3 to the dollar to 6.3 at the official exchange rate. The move was announced Friday at a press conference by Planning and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani. He said it will take effect on Wednesday.

The European Parliament, hostile to just agreed spending cuts in the EU budget and with the final say on the deal, must now live up to its responsibilities and pass it, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said Friday.

EU leaders had settled sharp their differences over the 2014-20 budget and now "I hope that the European Parliament will meet it's (responsibilities)," Van Rompuy said after marathon talks lasting more than 24 hours.

Swiss chocolate makers were left with a bittersweet taste in their mouths last year as a strong Swiss franc melted away the appetite for their products, the top industry body said Friday.

Switzerland's 18 chocolate manufacturers, including such brands as Lindt, Frey and Faverger, sold 4,000 fewer tonnes last year than in 2011 as an "overvalued Swiss franc ... made Swiss chocolate products more expensive abroad and made imported chocolate cheaper," Chocosuisse said in a statement.

Greece has slashed its deficit targets for the next four years following its latest international debt relief deal.

A revised mid-term strategy paper submitted to Parliament foresees the budget deficit shrinking to €7.9 billion ($10.7 billion), or 4.3 percent of the country's annual gross domestic product this year.

Mexico's competition regulator slapped a $52 million fine Thursday on billionaire tycoon Carlos Slim's Telmex telecommunications company for monopolistic practices.

The Federal Competition Commission said Telmex refused to give rival firm Axtel access to landlines in 32 towns from August 2009 to June 2011, blocking Axtel from providing local and long-distance services.

EU leaders looked ready on Friday to cut the bloc's budget for the first time in its six-decade history, with a tentative agreement to trim spending by three percent in absolute terms over the rest of the decade, diplomats said.

As marathon talks entered an 18th hour, a sustained push led by British Prime Minister David Cameron for the EU to share in the austerity cuts the 27 member states are implementing won crucial backing from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.