Oman's government will hike fuel prices, charges for public services and corporate taxes in the face of falling oil prices, the official ONA agency reported Wednesday.

Singapore's trade and industry minister has called for a resumption of free trade talks between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations now that problems over Myanmar have been removed, a German newspaper said.

Russia's finance minister predicted Wednesday that 2016 would be a difficult year for his country's recession-hit economy, already reeling from low oil prices.

China could run its biggest budget deficit in perhaps half a century next year as leaders turn to government spending to arrest the slowdown in the economy, policy advisers say, after disappointing returns from a year of monetary policy easing.

Oil fell toward $37 a barrel on Monday, trading within sight of an 11-year low, pressured by excess supply that has more than halved prices since the downturn began in mid-2014.

Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia posted a record $98 billion budget deficit in 2015 due to the sharp fall in oil prices, the finance ministry said on Monday.

FACEBOOK founder Mark Zuckerberg urged India Monday to approve a controversial plan that would provide a free Internet service to the poor, his latest bid amid an escalating row with authorities.

JAPAN'S factory output declined in November, official data showed Monday, falling back after two months of gains as the economy struggles to mount a recovery.

SHIPPING companies that transport commodities such as coal, iron ore and grain face a painful year ahead, with only the strongest expected to weather a deepening crisis caused by tepid demand and a surplus of vessels for hire.

China's central bank said on Monday that it would "flexibly" use various policy tools to maintain appropriate liquidity and reasonable growth in credit and social financing.

Russia's battered ruble on Monday reached its 2015 low as the slump in oil prices weighs on the outlook for the country's recession-hit

The eurozone is not expected to welcome any new members in the coming years, as the region's long crisis seems to have put some countries off, deputy European Commission chief said in a newspaper interview Monday.

GlaxoSmithKline has ended a frenetic week for the pharmaceutical sector with a $1.4 billion takeover of HIV drug development assets from Bristol-Myers Squibb.

From glitzy malls and high-rise flats to five-star hotels, a luxury building boom in Phnom Penh is transforming a capital once reduced to a ghost town into one of Asia's fastest growing cities.

Malaysia's first Islamic-compliant airline Rayani Air began operations Sunday with its maiden flight taking off from the capital to the resort island of Langkawi, local media reported.

Volkswagen plans to limit the time staff can remain in certain roles, its supervisory board chairman told a German weekly, in a step to improve oversight at the German carmaker.

Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceuticals entrepreneur vilified for jacking up the price of a life-saving AIDS drug, said on Saturday that unrelated securities fraud allegations that resulted in his arrest this week were "baseless and without merit."

It's a new dawn for transport, lodging -- and pretty much every service under the sun -- and it's all about "sharing."

President Dilma Rousseff on Friday replaced Finance Minister Joaquim Levy, a fiscal conservative appointed just over a year ago, with a close ally, Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa, the Brazilian leader's office says in a statement.

India's wholesale prices fell for a 13th straight month in November, but a sharp pickup in food prices and a pending wage hike for millions of government employees are likely to keep policymakers worried about potential inflationary risks.