Britain's coalition government unveils a highly political budget Wednesday that will set the stage for a knife-edge election battle in 50 days' time.

Finance minister George Osborne from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party will deliver his 2015/2016 tax and spending plans at 1230 GMT.

German airline Lufthansa cancelled around 750 short- and medium-haul flights Wednesday as pilots began a two-day walkout in a long-running dispute over early retirement.

Just over half of the carrier's scheduled 1,400 domestic and European flights taking off or landing in Frankfurt or Munich were cancelled, affecting around 80,000 passengers, a Lufthansa spokesman said. 

Chinese state media took a victory lap on Wednesday, gloating over the decision of major European powers to join a Beijing-backed multinational lender that the United States perceives as a threat to the Washington-led World Bank.

"Welcome Germany! Welcome France! Welcome Italy!" said a commentary in the official Xinhua news agency, describing the United States as "petulant and cynical".

Egypt will stop issuing on-arrival visas to tourists traveling alone, officials said Tuesday, in a move aimed at bolstering border security but prompting fears that tourism revenues could be harmed.

Groups traveling with tour operators will be exempted from the measure, which goes into effect on May 15, but others will have to apply at consulates abroad, tourism and foreign ministry officials said.

Turkey and Azerbaijan will on Tuesday formally begin construction on a new gas pipeline costing over $10 billion which will pump gas from the vast Azerbaijani Shah Deniz 2 field across Anatolia to Turkish and EU consumers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev will attend the ceremony marking the start of work on the pipeline in the Kars region of eastern Turkey, part of a drive aimed at reducing dependence on Russian gas.

North African cities are leading the way as the continent and its growing middle class lay down "solid economic roots" which are very appealing to investors, according to a new report published Tuesday.

The report highlighted 20 African "cities of opportunity" with the Egyptian capital Cairo heading the list, with Tunis, Casablanca and Algiers also in the top five.

When the European Central Bank officially inaugurates its new headquarters in Frankfurt on Wednesday, as many as 10,000 people from around Europe are expected to show up to join an anti-austerity demonstration.

Organisers say protesters will converge on Germany's financial capital to march against austerity policies which the ECB -- as part of the much-hated "troika" of creditors  -- helps to oversee in return for bailout money for crisis-hit eurozone countries.

A top executive of China National Petroleum Corp, the country's biggest energy company, has been put under investigation, authorities said as the Communist Party's anti-corruption drive targets more state firms.

CNPC general manager Liao Yongyuan is being investigated by the ruling party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) for "severe violations of discipline and law", the  watchdog said in a statement late Monday.

Spain raised the pressure on Greece Monday to "honor its commitments" to its European partners to end its debt crisis and prevent its dropping out of the eurozone.

"I do not want Greece to leave the euro. I do not believe that would be good for Greece or for Europeans in general," said Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a radio interview.

Kuwait has sought help from the International Monetary Fund to introduce corporate taxes in a bid to diversify revenue in the face of falling oil prices, a minister said Monday. 

"The IMF will prepare a preliminary report on how to impose taxes on companies in Kuwait," Commerce and Industry Minister Abdulmohsen al-Mudej said after a meeting with IMF representatives, the official KUNA news agency reported.