Russia's growth slowed sharply in the second quarter despite President Vladimir Putin's efforts to reverse the trend before he hosts the G20 summit next month, initial estimates showed on Friday.

The first growth reading from the Federal State Statistics Service dealt a heavy blow to the government by revealing that the economy had expanded in the second quarter of this year from the same period in 2012 at a rate of just 1.2 percent.

Iran has beefed up its oil tanker fleet with vessels from China and is selling more crude to Beijing as Tehran struggles under international sanctions, the IEA said in a report Friday.

Iran's once lucrative oil sector has been crippled by sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union over Tehran's controversial nuclear drive. Despite Iranian denials, the West is convinced Tehran is pursuing a nuclear bomb.

Japan's eye-watering national debt has topped one quadrillion yen, official data showed Friday, a record figure that underlines Tokyo's struggle to curb its huge borrowing.

The figure supplied by the finance ministry of 1.008 quadrillion yen by the end of June amounts to about $10.42 trillion at current exchange rates.

U.S. President Barack Obama called Thursday for more growth-oriented policies in Greece, saying the austerity has not been adequate to revive the country's battered economy.

Speaking after talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Obama said he was confident in his visitor's commitment to much-needed reforms.

The Bank of England made a major break with policy on Wednesday, insisting that any rise in its record-low key interest rate would be tied to a drop in Britain's unemployment rate.

The BoE said it "intends not to raise Bank Rate from its current level of 0.5 percent at least until... the unemployment rate has fallen to a threshold of seven percent."

Sony said Tuesday it has rejected a U.S. hedge fund's proposal to spin off part of its profitable entertainment arm, but the billionaire behind the offer vowed to continue efforts to overhaul the struggling Japanese electronics giant.

Daniel Loeb, who says his U.S. hedge fund Third Point has amassed the largest stake in Sony, had called on Sony executives to list up to 20 percent of the entertainment unit, which includes a major music label and a Hollywood movie studio.

The French economy, bumping along in recession, is likely to grow by 0.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, the Bank of France said on Wednesday.

This is better than forecast at the end of June by the national statistics institute INSEE which foresaw zero growth in the third quarter.

By Giza's Great Pyramids, souvenir vendors wait restlessly in the shade, watching for the handful of tourists who still make their way down the empty street to the once-bustling landmark.

The 2011 revolution that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak dealt a severe blow to the country's tourist industry, once a mainstay of Egypt's economy.

The Pentagon has notified the U.S. Congress of $2.7 billion in possible new sales to Iraq of air defense and communications systems.

The latest contracts would raise to nearly $5 billion the value of a series of U.S arms sales to Iraq that have been sent to Congress over the past two weeks.

Mothers with a certain gene got meaner when the economy took a dive in 2007-2009, whether or not their own purses were shorter on cash, U.S. researchers said Monday.

The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that environment can have a major impact on behavior, particularly when genetic variations are taken into account.