Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Monday it had resumed gas supplies to Ukraine, adding that Moscow had received prepayment of $234 million from Kiev ahead of the winter heating season.

"Gazprom began supplying gas to Ukraine at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) today," Gazprom chief Alexei Miller said in a statement.

Four Air France employees were arrested Monday as part of the investigation into the violent scenes which saw one of the struggling airline's executives have his shirt ripped off and scale a fence to escape an angry mob, police sources said.

The four men arrested work for the Cargo Air France division but are not elected union officials, one of the sources said.

Germany's Volkswagen on Monday announced a recall of nearly 2,000 vehicles in China -- the world's biggest auto market, where it is the top foreign brand -- in a global scandal over emissions cheating.

The German auto giant is facing accusations that it installed software on millions of diesel cars worldwide to cheat emissions tests and evade limits on nitrogen oxide and other pollutants.

Comments from the Federal Reserve's vice president that he expects a US interest rate hike this year pushed up the dollar against most emerging market currencies Monday after seeing big losses last week.

The greenback has seen heavy selling pressure since data at the beginning of the month showed jobs growth slowed in September, raising concerns about the recovery in the world's number one economy.

Qatar's oil minister said on Sunday he saw signs of an oil price rise in 2016 because of a recovery in the global economy and growth in demand.

In a statement, Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada -- who is also acting president of OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries -- said the oil price has "bottomed out" and he sees signs of recovery next year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday her government had no plans to impose a tax hike to cope with a record influx of asylum seekers, firmly denying reports that Berlin and the European Commission were mulling a special refugee solidarity levy.

In an interview to be published by Bild newspaper on Monday, the German leader was asked to confirm that there would be no tax hikes over the refugee crisis.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest rates by the end of the year is not guaranteed, although it remains the expected course of action, the central bank's vice chairman said Sunday.

Last month, the Fed said it plans to raise rates later in 2015, assuming further improvement in the U.S. labor market and continued economic growth.

U.S. President Barack Obama took a dig at China Saturday as he defended the new TPP Pacific Rim free-trade deal, which excludes Beijing.

In his weekly address to the nation, Obama said the 12-country accord concluded this week after five years of negotiations features the strongest labor and environmental standards in history, which he said will level the field in international trade.

Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the German capital against the massive free-trade accord being negotiated by the European Union and the United States.

Responding to a call by a group of political parties, trade unions and environmental and anti-globalization groups, the demonstrators gathered at Berlin's main train station for a march through the city.

Iran on Saturday announced dates for a three-day oil and gas conference in London in February designed to attract foreign investors awaiting new contract terms to be unveiled next month.

Oil majors have expressed interest in returning to Iran as soon as international sanctions linked to its nuclear programme are lifted, but they are currently still barred from signing any deals.