The IMF on Tuesday advised energy-rich Gulf economies to speed up their diversification away from oil after projecting the worst growth for the region since the global financial crisis.

Oil exporters in the Middle East, especially those in the Gulf Cooperation Council, have been hit hard by the collapse in crude prices which provided a major part of their finances.

The economic impact of the diplomatic rift between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors has so far been limited but a prolonged crisis could weaken the region's mid-term growth, the IMF said Tuesday.

Spain notched up vigorous growth in the third quarter, prior to the current Catalan crisis, official data showed on Monday.

Banking giant HSBC on Monday reported a massive jump in third-quarter earnings, as business booms in Asia and a huge restructuring drive bears fruit.

Cyprus will know by the end of 2018 if it has exploitable offshore gas reserves after several more test drills are carried out, the island's Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis said Monday.

Major Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group is considering slashing its global workforce by about one-third over a decade, reports said, as it looks to replace clerical jobs with artificial intelligence and other technology.

The lender is looking at chopping 19,000 jobs from its current roster of around 60,000 employees in Japan and overseas by March 2027, the top-selling Yomiuri newspaper said Sunday.

The tiled palaces beside Pakistan's Mangla reservoir and dozens of exchange offices testify to the prosperity enjoyed by Kashmir's Mirpur thanks to vast sums of cash sent back by tens of thousands of emigrants living in Britain.

Chinese billionaires are boasting about their Marxist bonafides. The Communist Party is tightening its grip on state-owned companies. And foreign companies are being asked to invite party cells into their offices. 

From a holographic lion to talking robots and flying taxis, Saudi Arabia has dazzled investors with plans for hi-tech "giga projects" -- but skeptics question their viability in an era of cheap oil.

The kingdom has revealed plans to build NEOM, a mega project billed as a regional Silicon Valley, in addition to an entertainment city in Riyadh that would rival Walt Disney and the Red Sea project, a reef-fringed resort destination.

Kuwaiti telecoms giant Zain on Sunday reported a drop in its third quarter net profits due to currency exchange losses in Sudan and conflict in Iraq.