The crisis hammering Argentina would have been much worse had the International Monetary Fund not stepped in with a massive rescue program, former IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday.

Qatar Airways hit turbulence on Wednesday posting a net loss for the year to March 2019 of $639 million which the airline blamed on key markets closing their airspace to Doha.

As pro-democracy protests grind on for a fourth month, Hong Kong has been left counting the cost, with the city’s tourist industry battered and businesses forced to lay off staff as they struggle to stay afloat.

Around three million barrels per day of Saudi oil will remain offline for a month, about half the production halted by the weekend's devastating attacks on key crude facilities, S&P Platts said Tuesday.

Oil prices dipped Tuesday but held most of the previous day's record gains following an attack on Saudi facilities that wiped out half the country's output, with traders nervously awaiting the US response after it said Iran was likely to blame.

Mohammad Zarqawi ambled around his narrow shop in central Damascus, filling plastic bags with colourful spices and herbs, their aroma spilling out into a dim market once bustling with customers.

Oil prices saw a record surge Monday after attacks on two Saudi facilities slashed output in the world's top exporter by half, fuelling fresh geopolitical fears as Donald Trump blamed Iran and raised the possibility of a military strike on the country.

Saudi shares slumped at the start of trading Sunday, the first session after drone attacks on two major oil facilities knocked out more than half the OPEC kingpin's production.

The British pound hit a seven-week high against the dollar Friday on easing fears of a no-deal Brexit.

U.S. trade negotiators want to make "meaningful progress" in upcoming talks with China, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday.