Iraq's parliament approved on Thursday a $119.1 billion (91.6 billion euro) budget for 2013 after weeks of delay, but Kurdish representatives and most members of the main Sunni-backed bloc did not attend, MPs said.

Parliament has struggled to pass even key legislation such as the budget due to political disputes that have deadlocked the body.

President Barack Obama will take his charm offensive with Republicans up a notch on Thursday, having lunch with budget hawk and former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan at the White House.

Hours after supping with a dozen Republican senators to start a dialogue aimed at reviving a stalled "grand bargain" on the deficit and spending, the president will welcome Ryan, a key player in the House of Representatives.

The Swiss National Bank on Thursday posted a 2012 profit of 6.9 billion Swiss francs (5.6 billion euros, $7.2 billion), nearly half of what it earned in 2011, owing to slipping income from foreign currency holdings.

In 2011, Switzerland's central bank, SNB, posted a profit of 13.5 billion Swiss francs.

France's finance minister says Europe must focus more on promoting growth and less on tightening budgets to revive the bloc's sluggish economy and avoid a deepening social crisis.

Pierre Moscovici warned Thursday in Brussels that continuing on a strict austerity course would only "nourish a social crisis that leads to populism."

Switzerland has the globe's most competitive travel and tourism sector owing to high quality transportion and hotels, skilled workers and rich natural resources, the Swiss-based World Economic Forum said Thursday.

In a biennial, 140-country ranking of competitiveness in the world's travel and tourism trade, the WEF said the Swiss had retained the top slot held in all five previous editions.

This year's first shipment of apples grown in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has entered Syria via the town of Kuneitra, crossing the armistice line, a Syrian official said on Wednesday.

"International Committee of the Red Cross trucks delivered the first shipments of Syrian apples (grown) by our relatives in the Golan," said Medhat Saleh, who runs the Syrian cabinet's Golan bureau.

Drive Dentsu Beirut proved their creative prowess at the MENA Cristal Festival this year. Ranking 4th among the local agencies on the Festival’s Advertising Agency of the Year list, Drive Dentsu left their mark through their impressive wins and secured their place on the advertising map both locally and regionally.

A super simple, visual-only ad for MoneyGram (MG) was a big winner at the Festival, reaping 5 awards in 5 different categories. An impressive two Golds were awarded this campaign in the prestigious Outdoor and Press categories. Another two Silvers went to the same MG Flags ad in the Ambient and In-Store Posters category, and finally a Bronze in the Corporate and PR category.

Officials from Qatar's global investment arm will hold talks in crisis-hit Greece on Wednesday, the development ministry said.

Greece has long sought to entice Qatari investment in real estate development to jumpstart its flagging construction industry, traditionally one of the main engines of its economy.

Oil prices climbed in Asian trade Wednesday on uncertainty following the death of Hugo Chavez, the president of major Latin American crude producer Venezuela, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, added 26 cents to $91.08 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for April delivery rose 32 cents to $111.93 in mid-afternoon trade.

Tokyo and Washington have agreed on exemptions for the auto industry in a mooted Pacific-wide free trade pact, as Japan readies to announce its entry into negotiations, reports said Wednesday.

The two Pacific powers agreed in principle that the United States will be able to keep tariffs on car imports -- 2.5 percent for passenger cars and 25 percent on trucks -- for at least five to 10 years under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Mainichi Shimbun and other media reported.