Credit Suisse said Friday it had reached an agreement with US authorities to pay almost $5.3 billion to settle disputes over the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

German consumers are looking ahead to the new year with optimism, a leading survey said Friday, though it warned that the impact of this week's deadly Berlin attack had yet to be taken into account.

The poll of around 2,000 people, carried out by market research firm GfK, found that consumer morale in Europe's top economy rose for a third consecutive month in December.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced Thursday that his focus is to restore confidence and hope in Lebanon, promising the Lebanese and investors a twenty-fold increase in internet speed.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet on Thursday approved Japan's biggest annual defence budget in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and a territorial row with China.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia on Thursday projected another budget deficit in 2017 but reported a less-than-expected shortfall for this year after cutbacks in the face of lower oil prices.

It is the first budget since the kingdom, aiming for a balanced budget by 2020, announced a wide-ranging plan to wean the economy off its oil dependency.

The Dubai government in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday announced its 2017 budget foreseeing a deficit of 2.5 billion dirhams ($681 million, 652 million euros) and 3 percent expenditure increase.

Protesters who shut off two Libyan oil pipelines, one for more than two years, have lifted their blockade, paving the way for a production boost, the National Petroleum Company said.

The European Union on Wednesday proposed tighter checks on cash and gold transfers as part of a crackdown on terrorist financing across a bloc grappling with a wave of terrorism.

Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday approved an austerity federal budget for 2017 that doubles minimum wages but keeps the deficit in line with the target set by the International Monetary Fund.

Most Asian markets turned higher Wednesday as investors tracked another record on Wall Street and refocused on the global economy after two deadly attacks.

The Berlin Christmas market horror and shooting of Russia's Turkish ambassador fanned concerns that fresh geopolitical woes could upend a rally in world assets triggered by Donald Trump's election as US president.