Christine Lagarde announced Friday that she will run for a second term at the head of the International Monetary Fund, after winning strong backing from across Europe.

"Yes, I am running for a second mandate," the former French finance minister confirmed in an interview with France 2 television.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Thursday billions of dollars in special loans and investments in the Middle East as Beijing seeks to boost its economic ties and clout in the region.

Xi offered China's financial support in an address to the Cairo-based Arab League after holding talks with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during his first tour to the Middle East as president.

Italy's prime minister said Thursday that the country's banking system was "much more robust" than investors thought after three days of meltdown of banking shares on the Milan stock exchange.

As shares recovered in early trading Thursday after plunging on fears about the country's burgeoning toxic loan crisis, Matteo Renzi took to the pages of the Il Sole 24 Ore daily to try to reassure skittish investors.

Russia's ruble on Thursday continued to plummet to new record lows against the dollar, tumbling by over 4 percent beyond 85 to the greenback on falling oil prices.

The ruble -- which has already been battered over the past 18 months by low energy prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine -- also weakened to over 93 against the euro. 

The IMF on Thursday opens formal nominations for the next term of managing director, with incumbent Christine Lagarde seen as the leading candidate despite possibly facing a trial in France.

The International Monetary Fund said nominations for the five-year term to run the global crisis bank beginning in July will close on February 10.

Two top U.S. bankers said Wednesday that the oil price collapse is likely to help economies long-term, even as markets slump in reaction. 

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said he is still hoping the stock rout of early 2016 that worsened Wednesday will turn out to be only a "speedy adjustment" that does not signal a major global slowdown.

In an unprecedented step, Europe's five largest airline groups including budget carriers EasyJet and Ryanair Wednesday launched a new alliance to combat rising airport charges amid a fierce battle with Gulf rivals.

The new association dubbed Airlines for Europe (A4E) brings together the budget airlines with giants Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and the International Airline Group, parent company of both British Airways and Iberia.

Ukraine on Wednesday escalated its bitter trade war with Russia in punishment for Moscow's seeming efforts to choke off its westward-leaning neighbor’s economic ties with other former Soviet states.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a cabinet meeting that Kiev was adding 70 food products to its existing list of items Russia cannot sell in Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Saudi King Salman on Wednesday attended a ceremony to mark the opening of a joint-venture refinery, a symbol of Beijing's deepening involvement in the Middle East.

The event took place in the Saudi capital Riyadh on the second day of Xi's first visit to the region. He was to depart later in the day for Egypt and will also travel to Saudi Arabia's rival Iran.

Falling world oil prices combined with a fixed fee for the use of export pipelines mean South Sudan is now losing money on every barrel it sells, analysts said Wednesday.

South Sudan currently earns around $20 (18 euros) a barrel for its low quality oil that sells at a discount to the Brent crude benchmark -- on Wednesday trading at $28 (26 euros), said Emma Vickers of Global Witness, a London-based campaign group.