As the U.S. presidential race picks up pace, the speeches and debates are full of character attacks, arguments on immigration and worries about national security.

But there is one glaring omission in the battle for the White House: serious talk about the economy.

When an April 2015 earthquake ravaged Nepal, killing 9,000 people and destroying half a million homes, insurers say the money paid out to victims amounted to less than a tenth of that received by Americans hit by winter snowstorms earlier in the year.

The figures reveal a huge potential market yet to be tapped in the developing and emerging world, major insurers said at an annual four-day gathering of billionaires and the political and business elite in Davos, Switzerland, which wrapped up Saturday.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Saturday that the refugee crisis had pushed Europe to a "make or break" point and endangered the EU's cherished passport-free Schengen area.

"The refugee crisis is a bit of a make or break, from my personal perspective," Lagarde said at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Asked if it put in peril Schengen, she said: "Yes, I think so."

Brazil hoped to start 2016 making itself pretty for its turn on the world stage when its hosts the summer Olympics. Instead attention has turned to its deepening economic crisis.

The world's seventh largest economy tipped into recession last year -- official figures show that 1.5 million jobs were destroyed.

Standard and Poor's on Friday raised its credit rating for Greek debt by one notch, saying it expected Athens to meet the conditions attached to the latest bailout package.

Greece's sovereign rating went up to B- from CCC+, which removes it from the range of being vulnerable to default.

Renault chief Carlos Ghosn said Friday his company, which is under pressure over failed emissions tests, had not committed any "deception", amid sector-wide questions sparked by a pollution cheating scandal at Germany's Volkswagen.

Ghosn, speaking on France's RTL radio, also called for new rules on emissions norms to avoid any "confusion", after some Renault vehicles' emissions were found to differ between laboratory and real driving conditions.

Venezuelan opposition lawmakers vowed to reject on Friday President Nicolas Maduro's bid to decree a state of economic emergency, deepening a political crisis in the oil-rich nation.

Friday is the deadline for the opposition-controlled National Assembly to vote on Maduro's decree, which would give him special powers to intervene in the economic crisis.

Ukraine on Friday stepped up its economic warfare with Russia by demanding a multi-billion-dollar payment from the Gazprom gas giant for allegedly underpaying Kiev for its fuel transits to European states.

The gesture is largely symbolic because Russia has dismissed similar Ukrainian claims.

Credit evaluator Moody's said Friday it has placed the ratings of 120 oil and gas firms worldwide under review for possible downgrade due to plunging crude prices.

"These reviews reflect a mix of declining prices that are near multi-year lows, weakening demand and a prolonged period of oversupply that will continue to significantly stress the credit profiles of companies in the oil and gas sector," the firm said in a statement.

Russia's battered ruble on Friday bounced back after a rise in crude prices, recovering ground a day after it slumped to an all-time low against the dollar.

The Russian currency stood at 80.3 against the dollar, up from Thursday's 82.63 ruble to the greenback, as oil prices rose from 12-year lows. The country's RTS dollar-denominated index meanwhile was up 5.30 percent at 0930 GMT.