Sudan's new cabinet on Monday approved a budget ruling out price increases, after the slashing of fuel subsidies in September led to the worst urban unrest of President Omar al-Bashir's regime.

"This budget will not include increases in taxation, nor will it raise other prices," Finance Minister Badereldien Mahmoud told reporters after ministers endorsed the 2014 budget.

Fears that the recovery in the 17-country eurozone has stalled were eased somewhat Monday after a survey showed business sentiment across the region rising for the first time in three months despite renewed weakness in the French economy.

The monthly purchasing managers' index for the eurozone from financial information company Markit rose to 52.1 in December from 51.7 in November. Anything above 50 indicates expansion.

Once the preserve of cyber geeks or of dodgy traders, the virtual currency bitcoin can now not only be used to buy goods online but also pay for a degree at the University of Nicosia.

Yet the newfound popularity of the currency, which was worth almost nothing until April 2011 and which now trades at around $1,000, may well prove its undoing.

French carmaker Renault signed a $1.3 billion joint venture agreement with China's Dongfeng Monday, finally ending a decade without a manufacturing presence in the world's biggest car market.

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn described the project as a "strategic alliance".

Japanese business confidence has soared to a six-year high, the country's central bank said Monday, underscoring growing optimism among major companies despite a slowdown in the world's third-largest economy.

The Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey, which polled more than 10,500 firms, surged to its strongest level since December 2007, with a reading for large manufacturers rising to plus 16 from plus 12 in September.

Hundreds of Cypriots protested on Saturday against harsh austerity measures imposed since the eurozone country agreed a tough bailout agreement in March.

Demonstrators from mainly leftwing unions, students and others gathered outside the finance ministry and marched on the presidential palace to voice their anger at a steep fall in the standard of living.

Algerian flagship carrier Air Algerie plans to spend around 60 billion dinars ($762 million/556 million euros) upgrading its fleet, chairman Mohamed Salah Boultif said on Saturday.

"The company plans to acquire 16 new aircraft between now and 2017 for around 60 billion dinars," Boultif told a news conference.

Protesters clashed with police at anti-austerity demonstrations in Rome, Turin and Venice on Saturday, as part of a wave of social action led by Italy's Forconi (Pitchforks) movement of farmers and truck drivers.

Students threw paint bombs at the police in Turin in northern Italy, a once-mighty industrial hub that has been laid low by the economic crisis and has been at the epicenter of protests that began this week.

The International Monetary Fund approved the 12th and last review of Ireland's progress under its three-year rescue program Friday, allowing a final $890 million in support of its financial rebuilding.

"Owing to steadfast policy implementation by the authorities, the EU-IMF supported program has been completed successfully," the IMF said.

When the top U.S. Republican in Congress slams far-right groups as "ridiculous," it's clear the Tea Party is in trouble and that its influence in the halls of power has hit a snag.

This week, the House of Representatives achieved a first since 1986 by resoundingly approving a two-year bipartisan budget deal in a divided government.