Canada approved on Tuesday a massive Can$36 billion ($27 billion USD) project by Malaysia's Petronas to build a liquefied natural gas pipeline along its Pacific Northwest coast, targeting Asian markets.

The project is the first deal by Canada's year-old Liberal government that goes against environmentalists in the name of the country's economic interests. Environmental activists and indigenous groups have opposed the plans.

Saudi Arabia's energy minister said on Tuesday he was optimistic that energy ministers at an informal OPEC meeting in Algiers would reach a "common view" on the international oil market.

Iran is not ready to agree to an oil output freeze in Algiers, its Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Tuesday on the eve of an informal OPEC meeting in Algeria's capital.

"It's not in our agenda to reach an agreement in two days. We need time for more consultation," he told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference.

Germany's second-largest lender Commerzbank could slash around a fifth of its staff in the coming years as part of a billion-euro restructuring programme, a German newspaper said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia Monday cut the salaries of cabinet ministers by 20 percent and froze the wages of lower-ranking civil servants in an intensified austerity drive to cope with lower oil revenues.

While ministers will have lower salaries, the 160 members of the Shura Council will see a 15-percent drop in their annual allowances for housing, furniture and cars, a royal decree said.

Oil prices edged down in Asia Tuesday amid continued speculation over whether producers will agree to limit output at talks in Algeria this week, analysts said.

Oil prices have been recovering but are still weak, the head of Gulf giant Saudi Aramco said on Monday, warning that market volatility could persist in the near future.

Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato went on trial Monday accused of overseeing a "corrupt system" that helped him and other executives misuse millions when he was the boss of a major Spanish bank.

Iranian banks have begun issuing credit cards for the first time in decades, local media reported on Monday.

The report by several newspapers, including the daily Donya-e-Eqtesad or World of Economy in Farsi, said the cards will be for domestic use only and do not involve any sort of partnership with a major international credit card company.

World markets dropped on Monday, picking up where they left off after last week's Fed-inspired rally ran out of steam.

After a burst of enthusiasm on the back of the US central bank's decision to keep interest rates on hold for a little longer, screens were red across the world -- with the pace of decline sharply quickened.