South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has said the restarting of oil production crucial to the fledgling nation's economy is stalled after rival Sudan made further demands.

Egypt's prime minister laid out Tuesday his government's economic program, aiming to increase a sagging growth rate, restructure an expensive subsidy system and deal with a crippling budget deficit as the country negotiates a US$4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Most economies hit by the Arab Spring uprisings will recover slowly next year, grappling with high inflation and rising unemployment due to poor global conditions, the International Monetary Fund predicted in a report on Sunday.

Gas-rich Qatar may invest up to 10 billion euros (US$12 billion) in big French firms, the ambassador of the Gulf state in France told AFP on Tuesday.

Iraq on Monday signed a five-year deal with Pakistan Petroleum for the company to explore a massive tract of land believed to contain gas, the latest step in Baghdad's efforts to boost energy output.

Fitch Ratings upgraded Turkey to investment grade on Monday, a move long coveted by Ankara, citing underlying strengths and an easing in near-term risks for the economy.

Turkey warned Saturday it would shun international companies involved in oil and gas drilling off the shores of the divided island of Cyprus.

The plunge in Iran's currency is proving bad for business in neighboring Iraq.

The Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) ended on a high note yesterday, with a record-breaking 77,000 attendees arriving on a single day during the four-day event. The total number of attendees that participated in this monumental event well exceeded 200,000.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah Tuesday proposed setting up a US$2 billion fund to fight poverty in Asia and said the Gulf state will donate US$300 million to its corpus.