The European Union will "fully play its role" to implement the gas deal signed by Ukraine and Russia on Thursday, the French and German presidents said in a joint statement.

Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel said they had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko earlier in the evening, and all four "have welcomed the conclusion of negotiations on the delivery of Russian gas to Ukraine, achieved thanks to the mediation of the European Union".

Sony Corp. says losses for July-September ballooned to 136 billion yen ($1.2 billion) as the Japanese electronics and entertainment company's troubled mobile phone division reported huge red ink.

The Tokyo-based maker of the PlayStation 4 video game machines, Spider-Man movies and Xperia smartphones had reported a 19.6 billion yen loss for the same period a year earlier.

The Bank of Japan ramped up its vast monetary easing program Friday -- sending the yen plunging and stocks soaring -- in a surprise move aimed at reviving growth just as the Federal Reserve winds down its own stimulus spree.

After a one-day meeting, policymakers said they would add up to 20 trillion yen ($182 billion) to the central bank's current asset-buying scheme, bringing it to 80 trillion yen annually.

British bank Barclays has set aside £500 million ($800 million, 634 million euros) linked to global probes into allegations of price-rigging in foreign exchange markets, cutting quarterly net profits, it said on Thursday.

"A £500-million provision has been recognized relating to ongoing investigations into foreign exchange with certain regulatory authorities," the London-listed bank revealed in a statement.

Gazprom on Thursday said that the EU and Ukraine must agree a deal for Kiev to pay off its gas debts to Russia before talks on restarting deliveries to the strife-torn nation can restart.

"The European Commission must reach an agreement with Ukraine over the question of financing. Otherwise, negotiations make no sense," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov told AFP.

Samsung reported its smallest quarterly profit in nearly three years Thursday as its key smartphone business faltered under competition from Apple's iPhone6 and Chinese handset makers in an increasingly saturated market.

Net profit for the South Korean electronics giant amounted to 4.22 trillion won ($4 billion) for July to September, marking a dramatic fall of 48.8 percent from a year ago, and the lowest figure since the fourth quarter of 2011.

Banque du Liban is celebrating the first anniversary of its Circular 331 startup fund, and its amending circular 367, by hosting Lebanon’s 1st international startup conference - Banque du Liban Accelerate

2014 - on Thursday November 20 and Friday November 21, 2014 at Forum de Beyrouth on the shores of the Mediterranean in Beirut, a press release said.

Thousands of civil servants in the Gaza Strip queued outside post offices Wednesday, waiting to receive their first paycheck from the Palestinian unity government, Agence France-Presse correspondents said.

However, thousands more -- all holding jobs in the military and security services -- were not being paid and it was unclear if and when they would be.

Europe's battered financial sector is showing further signs of healing and conditions for bank loans are easing while demand for loans is picking up, a key ECB survey showed on Wednesday.

Just a few days after the European Central Bank gave most eurozone banks a clean bill of health, its quarterly bank lending survey showed that banks are easing credit standards for customers across all loan categories.

Asia's travel and tourism sector is booming but will face a severe shortage of skilled workers in the next 10 years, a top industry executive said Wednesday.

Investments in human capital have lagged behind spending on infrastructure such as airports and hotels, said David Scowsill, president and chief executive of the London-based World Travel and Tourism Council.