Iran's currency traded at a fresh record-low of 119,000 to the dollar on Tuesday, a loss of nearly two-thirds of its value since the start of the year as US sanctions loom.

Power was finally restored to a key Paris rail station three days after a crippling fire disrupted the holiday plans of thousands of people on a crucial mid-summer weekend.

Inflation in Germany eased back slightly in July, preliminary data showed Monday, but still surpassed the level targeted by the European Central Bank.

Eiffel Tower workers are planning to strike this week over a new access policy for visitors which they say is generating "monstrous" waits at the famous tourist landmark, union officials said Monday.

Iran's currency hit a record low on Sunday of 100,000 rials to the dollar amid a deepening economic crisis and the imminent return of full U.S. sanctions. 

German prosecutors are investigating former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn over suspicion that he may have evaded taxes, Bild am Sonntag reported.

Winterkorn was already in the sights of investigators looking at whether he failed to inform investors promptly about Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal.

President Donald Trump's trade policies are turning long-established Republican orthodoxy on its head, marked by tariff fights and now $12 billion in farm aid that represents the type of government intervention GOP voters railed against a decade ago.

President George W. Bush increased the number of countries partnering with the United States on free trade agreements from three to 16. President Ronald Reagan signed a landmark trade deal with Canada that was later transformed into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and expanded to include Mexico. Both those Republican presidents also enacted tariffs, but their comments on trade were overwhelmingly positive.

Global stock markets mostly rose Friday as calm descended before vital US data that is forecast to show surging growth in the world's biggest economy, dealers said.

China must resist taking aggressive stimulus steps as it navigates troubled economic waters as they could add to excessive debt levels leading to an "abrupt adjustment", the International Monetary Fund said Friday.

It has turned into a brutal reality check for Facebook.