Home ownership is pursued almost as a right in Britain but the housing market has a history of boom and bust -- and fears are growing of a new bubble.

The Bank of England, three former finance ministers and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have all raised concerns that rising prices could threaten Britain's economic recovery.

Jordan, home to many Islamic and Christian holy sites, hopes a visit this month by Pope Francis will promote religious tourism and boost an industry hit hard by regional turmoil.

Tourism contributes 12 percent of gross domestic product in the desert kingdom and last year saw arrivals drop 10 percent to 5.4 million with revenues falling 6.25 percent to $3 billion (2.2 billion euros).

Emirates is not planning to buy a stake in Australian airline Qantas, a report said Monday, despite the government moving to loosen foreign ownership restrictions on the struggling carrier.

Canberra wants to alter ownership rules to allow greater foreign investment in the national airline, to help Qantas raise much-needed capital and put it on a more even footing with domestic competitors.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned in a German newspaper interview Monday that the Ukraine crisis could have "severe" economic consequences for other countries.

Lagarde also told the Handelsblatt business daily that a 17-billion-dollar aid package granted to Ukraine by the IMF would not be enough.

Dozens of Australian agencies and hundreds of public service jobs face the axe in Tuesday's budget, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann saying government was too big, wasteful, and needed streamlining.

Cormann refused to confirm specifics of the conservative administration's first budget since taking office in September, which comes as a mining boom fades and growth remains sluggish.

The cost of building Brasilia's World Cup stadium has nearly tripled to $900 million in public funds, largely due to allegedly fraudulent billing, government auditors say. The spike in costs has made it the world's second-most expensive soccer arena, even though the city has no major professional team.

Now, an Associated Press analysis of data from Brazil's top electoral court shows skyrocketing campaign contributions by companies that have won the most World Cup projects. The lead builder of Brasilia's stadium increased its political donations 500-fold in the most recent election.

London has more billionaires than any other city in the world, and Britain has more billionaires per head of population than any other country, new data showed on Saturday.

The survey of Britain's super-rich compiled for the Sunday Times newspaper is likely to prompt debate in a country where many still struggle financially and where food banks are a fact of life, despite economic growth recently returning to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crash.

The tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru has officially lodged an application for entry to the International Monetary Fund, the global financial body said Friday.

The Micronesian island of around 9,500 people would become the 189th member state of the IMF if its application is successful.

The Portuguese economy received a double boost Friday as ratings agency Moody's raised its debt rating one notch to Ba2, hours after fellow agency Standard & Poor's upgraded the country's credit outlook.

The announcements provided a timely vote of confidence after Lisbon announced on Sunday it will make a clean exit from its multi-billion-euro EU-IMF bailout package, following in the footsteps of Ireland by foregoing a credit line.

Venezuelans, who enjoy free highways and dirt-cheap gas, are struggling to buy cars as production falters thanks to a lack of foreign currency to pay for imported parts.

Vehicle assembly plants are facing their worst year in the oil-rich OPEC nation, producing five times fewer vehicles than last year due to the lack of imported supplies amid an economic crisis that began last year.