China's Belt and Road initiative must be green and sustainable, President Xi Jinping said at the opening of a summit on his grand plan on Friday, adding that the massive infrastructure and trade plan should result in "high-quality" growth for everyone.
The European Economic Area wants to sign a memorandum of understanding on China's Belt and Road initiative as a whole and not as individual states, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered further cuts to income tax to be matched euro-for-euro by cuts in public spending to keep the budget deficit from spiraling, the finance minister said on Friday.
The euro hovered near 22-month lows on Friday as traders waited to see whether U.S. GDP data due out later will reinforce signs of economic strength and send the dollar surging even higher.
Britain is committed to help realize the potential of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.
Britain's protracted divorce from the European Union is hurting the world's fifth largest economy as dwindling company investment, signs of a looming labor market shock and poor productivity hinder growth, Goldman Sachs said.
SAS pilots in Norway, Sweden and Denmark went on strike on Friday as wage talks broke down, triggering queues at airports as the carrier canceled around 70 percent of its flights.
State-owned Mubadala Investment Company said it has launched a new $1 billion fund, Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, to explore opportunities within the United Arab Emirates and abroad.
Asian shares were headed for their biggest weekly loss in more than a month on Friday, while the dollar held around two-year highs on speculation that U.S. data later in the day will show its economy is outperforming the rest of the developed world.
Japan's household spending likely rose for a fourth straight month in March, a Reuters poll found on Friday, but weak factory output and exports could still push the economy into a mild contraction in the first quarter.
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden entered the 2020 Democratic presidential field on Thursday as an instant front-runner, drawing momentum away from other leading candidates and putting new pressure on underperformers to find ways to stay relevant.