The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that its managing director, Christine Lagarde, is the sole candidate for the new term that begins in July.

Named to head the IMF in July 2011 for five years, Lagarde officially entered her nomination for a second term on January 22. She has received numerous expressions of support from officials in Europe, the United States and Latin America.

Tunisia said on Thursday it had fired the governor of the neglected but phosphate-rich Gafsa region, with an official citing "failings" in the management of labor relations in the mining sector.

The decision comes after protests spread across Tunisia last month, including in Gafsa, in some of the worst social unrest since the 2011 revolution.

World oil prices tumbled once more Thursday, nearing a 13-year low in New York, with no end in sight to the global supply glut.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March hit $26.32 a barrel, close to a 13-year low of under $26.

French oil company Total said Thursday it had cut its investment target this year as it steps up efforts to drastically cut costs to counter a global collapse in oil prices. 

Total said it would invest up to two billion dollars less in 2016 than originally planned, as it, like other oil giants, grapples with weak oil prices that have slumped around 70 percent since mid-2014 due to chronic oversupply.

World stocks slumped Thursday, gripped by another fierce sell-off after a warning by Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen over the global economy, while oil fell close to 12-year lows.

New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average sank overnight as Yellen also played down the chances of another U.S. interest rate hike any time soon.

Shares on the French and German stock exchanges fell sharply in early trading Thursday, dipping below three percent, over oil price worries and after Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen raised concerns about the global economy.

At 0830 GMT, France's main CAC 40 index was 2,57 percent lower, at 3,956.73 points, after falling briefly more than three percent. 

The Berlin-based vegan food retailer Veganz is looking to treble sales this year and is eying a possible stock market listing in 2018, its founder said in a magazine interview Wednesday.

"People can't get enough of our products," Veganz chief Jan Bredack told the weekly WirtschaftsWoche.

Russia may not have enough money to implement planned anti-crisis measures, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned Wednesday, asking ministers to make revisions.

Dubai's no-frills carrier flydubai said Wednesday its 2015 net profit stood at 100.7 million dirhams ($27.4 million), down 59.7 percent from the previous year, due to the strong dollar and route suspensions.

Total revenues increased 11 percent to 9.4 billion dirhams ($1.33 billion), with passenger numbers surging 25 percent to 9.04 million, it said in a statement.

An IMF program to prop up cash-strapped Ukraine's stricken economy cannot continue without reform by the authorities in Kiev, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday.

"Without a substantial new effort to invigorate governance reforms and fight corruption, it is hard to see how the IMF-supported program can continue and be successful," Lagarde, the Washington-based lender's managing director, said in a strongly worded statement.