Mortar shells slammed into central Damascus on Tuesday, hitting an educational institute in a barrage that killed at least 12 people and wounded 50, state media reported.

"Twelve citizens were killed and 50 others wounded by terrorists who targeted the Shaghur neighborhood in Damascus with four mortar shells," the SANA news agency said, adding that two shells hit the Badr al-Din al-Hussein institute.

Spain's unemployment rate climbed to nearly 26 percent in the first quarter of 2014, official data showed Tuesday, as millions searched in vain for a job in a halting recovery from recession.

Despite emerging gingerly from a two-year downturn in mid-2013, the latest figures showed Spain still failing to significantly dent one of the highest unemployment rates in the industrialized world.

Samsung Electronics reported Tuesday its net profit had risen 5.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to 7.57 trillion won ($7.3 billion) but operating profit declined for a second straight quarter on slowing smartphone revenue.

Alarm bells have been sounding for a while over Samsung's reliance on smartphone sales in mature markets such as Europe and the United States, and increasingly competitive emerging markets such as China.

Oil prices rose in Asian trade Tuesday after the West slapped fresh sanctions on Russia over its role in Ukraine, although gains were capped as the measures were seen as less aggressive than expected.

New York's West Texas Intermediate for June delivery climbed 15 cents to $100.99 in afternoon trade while Brent North Sea crude rose 23 cents to $108.35 for its June contract.

UAE telecommunications firm Etisalat announced Monday it has raised 3.15 billion euros to fund the acquisition of French media giant Vivendi's 53 percent stake in Morocco's main provider, Maroc Telecom.

The funds were raised with a group of 17 international, regional and local banks in the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. drugs giant Pfizer on Monday confirmed its interest over forming a multi-billion-dollar merger with British rival AstraZeneca, adding that an informal approach made in January had been rebuffed.

"Pfizer Inc. confirms that it previously submitted a preliminary, non-binding indication of interest to the board of directors of AstraZeneca in January 2014 regarding a possible merger transaction," said a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange one week after media reports regarding a potential tie-up.

The International Monetary Fund said Monday Hong Kong property prices are set to see adjustments following years of boom. 

The city's housing market has become one of the most expensive in the world -- prices have more than doubled since 2008 -- due to an influx of capital from the mainland and record low interest rates thanks to U.S. quantitative easing.

Oxfam on Monday accused Australia's big four banks of financing companies the charity said were linked to illegal logging, forced evictions and child labor.

A report by the aid group highlighted cases from Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Indonesia and Brazil in which Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank or ANZ directly or indirectly funded illegal "land grabs".

The dollar and euro stayed virtually unchanged Friday as the boiling Ukraine crisis kept traders cautious going into the weekend.

But the Japanese yen inched higher, with eyes looking to policy meetings next week in both the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve.

China's Foreign Minister ended a Latin American tour Friday in Brazil, stressing Beijing's goal of investing in the region as he prepared the way for a July visit by President Xi Jinping.

"There is a complementary economic relationship between China and Latin America and the Caribbean," said Wang Yi.