It was always an uncomfortable paradox for Ukraine's warring sides: while Kiev and Russian-backed rebels battled each other for nearly three years, trade kept flowing across the frontline.

World stocks were little changed Friday as a global rally ran out of steam, leaving investors reluctant to place any firm bets ahead of the weekend. 

Finance ministers from the world's biggest economies sat down for tense talks in Germany on Friday, formally engaging in a battle of wills over the future of the global free-trade system which ranges a newly forthright U.S. against historic allies.

Families across Central America are living in fear that US President Donald Trump's anti-immigration policies will stem the vital flow of money sent home by migrants each year.

The concern is that relatives who have emigrated without authorization will be deported, suddenly ending the billions of dollars in annual remittances sent to their impoverished countries.

Some Hispanic business owners in the United States are offering to help build President Donald Trump's wall to keep out unauthorized immigrants on the Mexican border, despite controversy and their personal misgivings.

"Myself, being an Hispanic makes it tougher," Michael Luera, who runs a construction services firm in Ganado, Texas, told AFP.

Saudi giant Aramco is to resume deliveries of oil products to Egypt that have been suspended since last October, the Egyptian petroleum ministry said, amid differences over the Syrian conflict.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed on Thursday the need to upgrade Lebanon's infrastructure to bear the enormous pressure as the result of increasing number of displaced people and a growing population.

“We are recovering from a stage that was tough on all of us. These difficulties were exacerbated by the repercussions of the unprecedented number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Frankly, we cannot carry on like this. Because if we do, the crisis can become a disaster for everyone without exception,” said Hariri in a speech at the Lebanon Economic Forum, organized by Al-Iktissad Wal Aamal Group at the Phoenicia hotel.

Billions of dollars will be pumped into a massive hydro-electric project in Australia, the prime minister said Thursday, as the country faces a growing power crisis after a huge blackout and heatwave strained supplies.

The expansion of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in New South Wales state could provide electricity to 500,000 homes, which Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described as an "electricity game-changer".  

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the benchmark interest rate a quarter point, noting that inflation is moving closer to the central bank's two percent target.

But in announcing the first move since President Donald Trump took office, the Fed gave no hint that rates might have to rise more quickly if the White House pushes through its pro-growth policies, including tax cuts and spending programs.

Britain's finance minister Philip Hammond announced a shock U-turn over planned tax hikes for the self-employed on Wednesday, one week after unveiling the measure in his flagship budget.