The Italian government named four new directors, including three women, to state-controlled companies Monday and capped executive pay at such firms at 238,000 euros a year.

The shakeup affects some of the country's largest state-controlled companies: oil firm Eni, energy company Enel, industrial giant Finmeccanica and the Italian postal service.

The Australian government Tuesday gave the go-ahead to a second international airport for Sydney, ending decades of indecision with a move expected to boost the national economy.  

Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed that Badgerys Creek, in western Sydney, will be the site of the new airport with planning to start immediately and construction from 2016.

The United States on Monday signed a $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine in support of its economic recovery after weeks of political upheaval and the loss of Crimea to Russia.

It came as pro-Russian insurgents gained more ground in eastern Ukraine, occupying a police station and an administrative building, their latest seizures in a campaign that threatens to break up the ex-Soviet state.

Eurozone industrial output edged higher in February, official data showed Monday, in line with recent data showing a very modest economic recovery in the single currency bloc.

The activity of the industrial sector is closed watched in the eurozone where there is deep concern in some countries about the low competitiveness of industry, particularly on export markets.

The Russian stock markets and the ruble fell in early trading on Monday after clashes between pro-Russian forces and the Kiev authorities in eastern Ukraine.

Western powers blame Russia for stirring up the trouble.

Greece will issue more bonds after last week's successful five-year debt sale that ended a four-year drought, the head of the debt agency said on Sunday.

"The bond sale was just the first step," Stelios Papadopoulos, head of the public debt management agency (PDMA) told Kathimerini daily.

U.S. bank Citigroup has cut between 200 and 300 additional jobs, most in the global markets business, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Some of the employees were fired, while others left voluntarily. Among them was Steve Prince, the younger brother of former chief executive Charles Prince, according to the newspaper.

The winner of energy-rich Algeria's presidential election must tackle a major problem facing the country -- its dependence on hydrocarbon revenues, which are used by the government to defuse social tensions and which are in decline.

Sporadic protests over poor living conditions came to a head in early 2011, as the popular uprising in neighboring Tunisia toppled a decades old-dictatorship.

Egypt will need further international assistance to put its economy back on track despite receiving huge loans from Gulf Arab states, the IMF said Friday.

"Egypt will need financial support which could come from its partners in the Gulf or, if the government wants that, from the IMF and from other international financial institutions," Christopher Jarvis, the International Monetary Fund's Egypt mission chief, told reporters.

Leading economic policymakers meeting in Washington voiced worry Friday that the Ukraine crisis could hurt the world economy, but fell short of taking concrete action to strengthen growth amid signs of discord.

Meeting on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings, G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs pledged to follow up on reforms and support a $27 billion rescue program for Ukraine, even as Russia continues to menace its neighbor.