Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has dismissed ratings agency Moody's decision to downgrade Italy's credit standing because of the government's controversial budget plans and said the country's outlook was "stable."

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in an interview for publication Sunday he backed a global minimum fiscal regime for multinationals as Europe looks to levy tax notably on U.S. tech giants.

"We need a minimum tax rate valid globally which no state can get out of (applying)," Scholz,  a social democrat in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, told the "Welt am Sonntag" weekly. 

They tidy the baggage carts in airports, they sell clothes or work as cashiers in supermarkets at an age when their peers have long ago retired. 

Emmanuel Macron has watched his approval ratings plunge as voters wait for his pro-business reforms to pay off -- but for company leaders like Pierre Loustric, that's not a problem.

By reopening a key land crossing with Jordan this month, the Syrian regime is inching towards a return to trade with the wider region as it looks to boost its war-ravaged economy.

Moody's has cut Italy's credit rating by a notch over concerns about plans for larger deficits and the high public debt load as the country's populist government clashes with Brussels over its budget.

Petrobras is the jewel in Brazil's crown: Latin America's most valuable enterprise, a $100-billion oil and gas group whose crude output puts the country in the top 10 league globally, rivalling that of many OPEC members.

The International Monetary Fund announced Friday it had reached agreement with Ukraine on economic policies that would unlock a new loan deal that will provide nearly $4 billion.

The crisis surrounding the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and concerns that he may have been killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, has highlighted the role of the Middle East kingdom in the U.S. economy, especially in Silicon Valley.

More than 50 European and Asian leaders backed free trade and the fight against climate change on Friday in a veiled swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump and his increasingly protectionist approach.