The cloud over the German economy, Europe's biggest, appeared to lift somewhat on Friday with data showing a strong rise in industrial production in July.

According to economy ministry data, industrial output increased by 1.9 percent in July, after already rising by 0.4 percent in June.

The dollar soared to a near six-year high against the yen Friday on upbeat expectations for U.S. jobs data, while the euro sank after the European Central Bank launched a surprise round of monetary easing.

The greenback jumped to 105.69 yen in early Asian trade, its highest level since October 2008, before easing slightly to 105.32 yen. However, it is still above the 105.22 yen seen late in New York.

The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, devastated during 50 days of war with Israel, will cost six billion euros ($7.7 billion), Palestinian experts said in a report Thursday.

The Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, a Palestinian Authority body that oversees the implementation of donor-financed projects, said the process would take "five years if Israel removed its blockade over Gaza entirely."

Tunisia has stabilized from the fallout of the 2011 revolution and is now ripe for investment in its battered economy, Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa told AFP in an interview.

Speaking ahead of the "Invest in Tunisia: Start-up democracy" conference to be held on Monday, Jomaa said Tunisia's new government was upbeat but realistic about a recovery.

Nine firms have made non-binding bids for Cyprus Airways with Ireland's Ryanair and Greece's Aegean Airlines among those still interested in buying the loss-making national carrier, a report said Thursday.

There has been no official announcement since the deadline for bids closed on Wednesday but the Phileleftheros newspaper said nine of the 14 firms that had expressed initial interest had tabled proposals.

Malaysia Airlines has renamed a promotional competition asking people what activities and destinations are on their "bucket list" after acknowledging it was inappropriate given the two deadly disasters it has suffered this year.

A bucket list is a term used by some English-speakers to describe a list of adventures they want to have before they die.

Financial markets are eagerly awaiting more word Thursday from the European Central Bank about possible stimulus measures to save the economic recovery.

Expectations for action have grown since ECB President Mario Draghi warned last month that the economy was at risk and said the bank was open to new, extraordinary measures such as large-scale bond purchases.

A huge power outage blacked out most of Cairo on Thursday causing major disruption across the city of some 20 million people at the height of the morning rush hour.

Services were completely suspended on one of the city's three metro lines and heavily disrupted on a second, the state MENA news agency reported.

Argentina's lawmakers approved a measure early Thursday that would transfer the payment site for the country's restructured debt obligations from New York to Buenos Aires, as the country grapples with fallout from its 2001 default.

France was also added as an alternative payment source in the vote after a marathon session that began Wednesday. The measure was passed by the Senate passed by a vote of 39 to 27 with two abstentions, and now goes to the Chamber of Deputies.

France said Wednesday "conditions" were not in place to deliver the first of two Mistral-class warships to Russia, a move planned later this year that has sparked controversy given the crisis in Ukraine.

"The President of the Republic declared that, despite the prospect of a ceasefire which still remains to be confirmed and implemented, the conditions for France to deliver the first warship are not to date in place," Francois Hollande's office said in a statement, on the eve of a major NATO summit.