South Korean cosmetics brands, wildly successful at home and across Asia, now have their eye on the European beauty market where their penetration is, for now, only skin-deep.

Inflation rates in Saudi Arabia soared in January after the government introduced a string of price hikes to boost non-oil revenues, authorities said on Sunday.

Greek banks' efforts have started bearing fruit but the very high stock of non-performing loans remains a thorny issue, European Central Bank chief supervisor Daniele Nouy said Sunday.

The European Central Bank warned Saturday that Latvia's third-largest lender ABLV was at risk of failing, after freezing payments following money laundering allegations from Washington. 

Negotiators from the United States, Mexico and Canada open a new round of talks Sunday on overhauling the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the Mexican hosts already warning of turbulence.

IAG, which owns British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia, said Friday that full-year net profit gained only slightly, as restructuring costs offset benefits from the demise of smaller rivals.

Asian markets ended the week on a positive note following the lead from Wall Street, with energy firms lifted by a rally in oil prices.

Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India on Friday ceremonially broke ground on the Afghan section of an ambitious, multi-billion dollar gas pipeline expected to help ease energy deficits in South Asia.

Australia's largest bank the Commonwealth on Friday denied a slew of new claims by the country's financial intelligence agency that it breached anti-money laundering laws, and rejected a major class action over the allegations.

French fraud authorities on Thursday accused supermarket chain Intermarche of illegally selling Nutella below cost, after heavy discounts sparked a shopping frenzy that made international headlines.