France's banking watchdog said Friday it had fined Societe Generale five million euros ($5.8 million) over lapses in its measures to prevent money laundering that could finance terrorism.

Germany's largest lender Deutsche Bank is bracing for Brexit and will have to move jobs from London to its headquarters in Frankfurt, chief executive John Cryan has said.

German carmakers Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Daimler secretly worked together from the 1990s onwards on issues including polluting emissions from diesel vehicles, news magazine Der Spiegel reported Friday.

Ryanair will slash flights between Britain and the EU if London and Brussels fail to agree on terms for post-Brexit air travel by September next year, a senior executive said Friday.

The International Monetary Fund's approval of a one-year $1.8-billion loan for Greece was a "very positive signal for the markets," the EU's Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, told AFP on Friday.

"Italy gets worse every time you look at it and offers less and less to young people," says Antonio Davide D'Elia, just one of thousands of young Italians who have decided to try their luck abroad.

German luxury carmaker Audi, a Volkswagen subsidiary, issued a voluntary recall of up to 850,000 diesel vehicles Friday, saying it would help reduce engine emissions.

The British government could agree to free movement of people during a Brexit transition period, newspapers reported on Friday in what would be a major reversal of current plans.

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani said Friday that his telecoms venture Jio would launch a free smartphone, escalating a price war that is shaking up the country's ultra-competitive mobile market.

German industrial conglomerate Siemens said on Friday it would scale back its operations in Russia after confirming gas turbines it sold to companies there had been diverted to Ukraine's Russian-annexed Crimea region in breach of sanctions.

Despite global sanctions over its weapons programmes, North Korea's economy grew at the fastest pace in 17 years thanks to a jump in exports and increased production in mining and other industries, the South's central bank said Friday.

Swiss watchmaker Swatch said Friday that its profits rose in the first six months, but its performance was dampened by the strength of the Swiss franc.

The euro held its dollar gains in Asia on Friday after the head of the European Central Bank said policymakers would begin re-evaluating its stimulus in the autumn, fuelling talk that the age of cheap money was coming to an end.

The International Monetary Fund late Thursday approved a new, $1.8 billion loan program for Greece but will not release any funds immediately, in a highly unusual compromise step.