Greece launched on Monday an operation to buy back debt at a big discount, a vital part of a repackaged rescue plan to avert bankruptcy before the end of the year.

Eurozone finance ministers are expected to review the details of the operation when they meet later in Brussels, as well as discuss help to Cyprus and banking supervision.

France's top central banker on Monday took aim at London's heavyweight position in euro trading, saying the bulk of the business should be done within the 17-nation eurozone.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Tokyo, Banque de France Governor Christian Noyer said there was no reason for London being the busiest euro trading center since Britain in not a member of the currency club.

Manufacturing activity in China hit a 13-month high in November, HSBC said Monday, in another sign that the world's second largest economy is emerging from a drawn-out slumber.

The banking giant's purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit 50.5 last month, up from 49.5 in October, putting it above the 50 mark that indicates growth. A reading below signals contraction.

The Indonesian subsidiary of British oil giant BP on Monday said a $12.1-billion deal to expand its liquid natural gas operations in the country had been given final approval.

The deal, announced last month during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's state visit to London, will allow BP to develop a third liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction train at its Tangguh project in West Papua province, according to a statement from BP Indonesia.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress Saturday to immediately extend a tax cut for middle class Americans, arguing the move will give 98 percent of families and 97 percent of small businesses certainty that will lead to faster economic growth.

"Congress can do that right now. They can give families like yours a sense of security going into the New Year," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

Rescuing Greece from economic collapse is in Germany's best interests, Chancellor Angela Merkel told Sunday's edition of the Bild newspaper, after German lawmakers approved billions of euros in international aid for Athens.

Helping Greece is "in Germany's interests because measures are always taken with all of the euro zone in mind for the benefit of all members, including Germany," she told the newspaper.

Ford Motor Company on Friday issued a recall of more than 89,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada amid concerns the engines could catch on fire.

The automaker said the voluntary recall affects SE and SEL models of the 2013 Escape and 2013 Fusion that are equipped with a 1.6-liter engine.

The governor of the United Arab Emirates central bank said Friday it intends to buy the sovereign debt of bailed-out eurozone member Portugal.

"Portugal has taken steps towards recovery. Ireland has successfully overcome the crisis and now the second country to do it in Europe will be Portugal," Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi was quoted as saying in the Portuguese business daily Diario Economico.

Bulgaria is offering citizenship to foreigners ready to invest at least half a million euros ($650,000) in the Balkan country's ailing economy.

Under the newly approved amendments, the candidates would have to invest in a Bulgarian company involved in a high-priority investment project in industry, infrastructure, transport or tourism.

Another month, another record unemployment rate for the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.

Figures released Friday by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, showed that the recession in the eurozone pushed unemployment in the currency bloc up to 11.7 percent in October.