Struggling Australian carrier Qantas on Tuesday said it was committed to slashing costs by Aus$2 billion (U.S.$1.8 billion) but refused to confirm or deny a report that it will axe 5,000 jobs.

The airline has been battling record fuel costs and fierce competition from subsidized rivals and in December said 1,000 jobs would go while warning it faced a half-year loss of up to Aus$300 million.

Russia's economy minister warned Ukraine in an interview on Monday that Moscow will raise import duties on its goods if Kiev signs a partnership agreement with the European Union.

"We say to Ukraine: you have the right to go your own way," Alexei Ulyukayev was quoted as telling German business daily Handelsblatt.

Banking giant HSBC announced on Monday a 15.5-percent rise in annual net profit to U.S.$16.2 billion (11.8 billion euros).

The company's performance in 2013 compared with profit after tax of $14.03 billion in 2012.

Ukraine said on Monday it will need $35 billion in urgent foreign assistance and asked Western donors to convene an international conference within two weeks to agree a financial rescue plan.

Interim finance minister Yuriy Kolobov said in a statement that the "planned volume of macroeconomic assistance for Ukraine may reach around $35 billion (25 billion euros)" by the end of next year

Greece's four top banks are expected to need an extra capital injection of about five billion euros, local media said Sunday as the country's international lenders prepared for a new audit of Greek finances.

The Bank of Greece is currently evaluating the restructuring plans of the country's four main lenders -- National Bank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and Eurobank -- before releasing stress test results that will show whether they can absorb possible future shocks from bad loans.

Oil prices rebounded in Asian trade Monday as the world's biggest economies vowed to spur global growth by more than $2 trillion over five years.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery, gained 27 cents to $102.47 in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude for April rose 19 cents to $110.04.

Bulgarian and Spanish law enforcement officers have busted an international crime ring stealing card numbers from ATM machines worldwide, authorities in Sofia said Saturday.

Twenty-five people were arrested in Bulgaria, Spain and Hungary in a massive police operation coordinated by Europe's law-enforcement and judicial agencies Europol and Eurojust, Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (DANS) said in a statement.

At the beginning of 2008, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was worried.

Just back from meetings with bankers in Basel, he told a phone meeting of Fed officials that things were looking worse than even weeks before.

Honda unveiled a second factory in Mexico on Friday, seeking to capitalize on the nation's rising power in the sector and strengthen the Japanese car giant's foothold in North America.

The $800 million plant in the central city of Celaya will churn out 200,000 units per year, contributing to Mexico's race to beat Canada and Japan as top car exporter to the United States.

Moody's raised Spain's sovereign credit rating by one notch Friday, citing progress in reforms to put the economy on a more sustainable track.

Moody's Investors Service upgraded the rating to Baa2 from Baa3, and gave the country a "positive outlook", suggesting the potential of a further upgrade.