Global supply and demand for crude oil will be largely balanced next year, as growth in consumption helps erode a three-year-old overhang of unused fuel and should mostly offset a steep rise in output, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.

The heir to South Korea's Samsung Group, convicted of bribing the country's former president, appeared in a packed court on Thursday for the first day of arguments in the appeal of his five-year jail term for corruption.

Paris authorities plan to banish all petrol- and diesel-fueled cars from the world's most visited city by 2030, Paris City Hall said on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was open to bilateral trade pacts with either Canada or Mexico if a three-way deal cannot be reached to substantially revise the North American Free Trade Agreement.

A plan to list Saudi Aramco in 2018 is on track, senior Saudi officials said in Moscow on Thursday, as Saudi Arabia gears up to sign a string of investment agreements with Russia.

After five years without work, Syrian refugee Mohammed Ahmad was nervous but hopeful as he registered with as many firms as possible at a unique job fair in Jordan's sprawling Zaatari camp where he lives.

Tackling bad debts is the priority for State Bank of India, its newly appointed chairman said on Thursday, but India's largest bank will not shy away from opportunities to grow, including in infrastructure lending.

Growth in the US services sector, a key driver of the American economy, hit a 12-year high last month in the wake of back-to-back hurricanes, a survey released Wednesday showed.

German industrial gases group Linde urged investors to tender their shares in an exchange offer for its planned $80 billion merger with US peer Praxair as a deadline approaches to reach 75 percent acceptance.

Oil prices steadied on Thursday on expectations that Saudi Arabia and Russia would extend production cuts, although record US exports and the return of supply from a Libyan oilfield dragged on the market.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan welcomed the humility shown by Uber's chief executive after the city stripped the taxi app of its licence to operate, but once again criticised the company's London management on Thursday.

Political and economic uncertainty, not least from Brexit, sent sales of new cars in Britain falling sharply in September, a key month for the industry, data showed on Thursday.

The Indian government is considering exemptions sought by Apple Inc for setting up a unit to assemble iPhones, Ramesh Abhishek, the top bureaucrat in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, said on Thursday.

Sri Lanka has blocked a proposal by Chinese firms bidding to build the island's biggest oil refinery to sell fuel locally, fearing a threat to domestic firms that dominate the small but growing market.

International trade deals have real benefits for small firms' competitiveness and regional integration, the International Trade Centre (ITC) said on Wednesday in research challenging US President Donald Trump's “America First” policies.

The World Bank raised its economic growth forecasts for developing East Asia and Pacific for this year and 2018, but added the generally positive outlook was clouded by risks such as rising trade protectionism and geopolitical tensions.

India has approved smartphones maker Oppo's request to open single-brand retail stores in the country, paving the way for the Chinese firm to sell directly to consumers and add to its existing wholesale business.

The EU turned the screw on US tech giants Wednesday, ordering Amazon to repay Luxembourg 250 million euros in back taxes and taking Ireland to court for failing to collect billions from Apple.

Japan's economy saw output exceed full capacity by the most in nine years in the April-June quarter, a Bank of Japan estimate showed, a positive sign for the central bank as it seeks to accelerate inflation to its elusive 2 percent target.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said it was “a bit skeptical” that Britain's economy needed an interest rate increase soon and comments from the Bank of England that a hike might be nearing seemed designed to push up sterling and cool inflation.