Chinese equities plunged almost eight percent Monday as nervous traders returned from their extended Lunar New Year break, hit by fears that the deadly coronavirus could hammer the country's economy.

Cyprus has regained the trademark rights in Britain to its renowned white cheese halloumi after an official blunder saw it lose its brand protection in 2018, officials said Monday.

Russia's economic growth slowed to 1.3 percent last year, the state statistics agency said Monday.

The United Arab Emirates, a leading OPEC producer, announced Monday the discovery of huge gas reserves, saying the find would help the Gulf state achieve self-sufficiency.

The United Arab Emirates will pump $2.0 billion into investment and development projects in Mauritania, state media said Sunday during a visit by the country's new leader renowned for his anti-jihadist stand.

An alternative proposal by Washington on how to tax digital giants worldwide has been met with "concern" by several nations, the OECD group of free-market economies said Friday.

A resolute European Union sought Friday to turn the page on Brexit and move on to negotiating a looser, less favorable trading relationship with its departing British partner.

Italy must improve its capital markets to help underperforming companies access funding for investment and growth, while giving investors means for more diversified savings portfolios, the OECD said on Friday.

In a review of the capital markets of the eurozone's third-largest economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Italian companies were deprived of needed funding for long-term projects and planning, and would not be able to grow to fend off global competition without stronger capital markets. 

As Syrians feel the sting of a nosediving currency, local businesses have launched a campaign to sell goods symbolically priced at a single pound to counter a deepening economic crisis.

Britain's economy, lifted by the country's post-election political stability, risks fresh turbulence as Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeks tricky Brexit trade deals amid global threats that include the coronavirus.