It may have made its name as the ultimate backpacker destination but Thailand hopes to attract a more well-heeled kind of traveler in the future, its tourism minister said Friday, as the kingdom announced record arrivals for 2015.

The vital tourism industry remains one of the few economic brightspots following a year in which the junta-led government has struggled to kickstart the kingdom's stumbling economy.

A firm owned by a Saudi prince said Thursday it had led a group that invested around $248 million (226 million euros) in U.S. ridesharing service company Lyft.

Kingdom Holding Co, which is 95 percent-owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, invested $104.9 million in the San Francisco-based startup, it said in a statement.

Oil prices extended their recent rally in Asia on Thursday as a drop in U.S. crude supplies cheered global financial markets ahead of the long Christmas weekend.

The main global contracts for the commodity surged more than 3.5 percent on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Energy reported inventories unexpectedly fell in the week ending December 18 while imports sank about 13 percent week on week.

Saudi King Salman on Wednesday said he has ordered economic reforms to diversify sources of income and reduce high dependence on oil following a sharp drop in crude prices.

"Our vision for economic reform is to increase the efficiency of public spending, utilize economic resources and boost returns from state investment," he said in an address to the Shura Council.

The EU's top court ruled Wednesday that Scotland's minimum price system for alcohol, designed to stop people "drinking themselves to death," was contrary to EU law.

The European Court of Justice said the measure violated the bloc's single market rules while its objective of reducing alcohol intake would be better achieved by tax measures.

Russia's Central Bank on Wednesday issued a banknote depicting famous landmarks of Crimea, commemorating last year's annexation of the peninsula that was slammed by the West and led to sanctions against Moscow.

The banknote with the denomination of 100 rubles (about $1.40. 1.29 euros) is "dedicated to Crimea and Sevastopol becoming a part of the Russian Federation," the Central Bank said in a statement. 

The World Bank approved a $500 million loan Wednesday to help the Philippines deal with natural disasters.

It can access the new credit line following "a state of calamity" declared by the president, the World Bank said in a statement.

Britain's economy grew slower than expected in the third quarter, revised official data showed on Wednesday.

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.4 percent in the July-September period, down from previous estimates of 0.5-percent growth, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Tata Steel on Tuesday said it will enter into talks over selling struggling facilities in Britain and France to a private equity firm, as its Indian parent battles against lower prices.

"This is an extremely critical time for the whole industry, and we have been working hard to explore all options that could provide a future for the Long Products Europe business," Karl Koehler, chief executive of Tata Steel’s European operations, said in a company statement.

Crisis-hit Toshiba's woes deepened Tuesday when Moody's cut its credit rating to junk, casting doubt on a turnaround plan unveiled in response to an embarrassing profit-padding scandal.

On Monday Toshiba rolled out a wide-ranging restructuring which included thousands of job cuts, as it warned it would book a record $4.5 billion annual loss.