US road safety regulators are investigating fuel leaks on Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars after hundreds of complaints from owners of the vehicles.

French Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac resigned on Tuesday after prosecutors announced a full investigation into a secret Swiss bank account he allegedly used to hide assets from the tax authorities.

Furious MPs took turns in parliament Tuesday to rail against the harsh terms of a bailout aimed at saving Cyprus from bankruptcy, decrying the eurozone "blackmail" as the deal hammered out at the weekend appeared to be unravelling.

Almost 1,000 South Sudanese left their squalid Khartoum camp to return home by convoy on Tuesday but there is little immediate hope for tens of thousands who remain, officials say.

International patent filings increased by 6.6 percent in 2012 from the previous year, with China, Japan and South Korea posting double-digit growth, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) said Tuesday.

Europe's main stock markets suffered further losses and the euro slid on Tuesday as Cyprus' international bailout appeared close to unravelling.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle pledged Tuesday further investment and aid for Tunisia if it stays on track in turning its Arab Spring revolution into a democratic success story.

The speaker of the Cypriot parliament on Tuesday urged MPs to say "no to blackmail" in a vote on a eurozone bailout aimed at saving the Mediterranean island from bankruptcy.

Hosting the 2020 Olympic Games in Madrid would provide a 3.87-billion euro ($5.0-billion) boost to the Spanish economy and generate 83,000 full-time jobs, Madrid bid organisers said Tuesday.

London shares closed lower as the 10 billion euros Cyprus bailout deal appeared headed for the rocks with MPs for the president's own party saying they wouldn't vote for it.

Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said Tuesday the European Parliament has approved setting up a single eurozone bank supervisor which supporters say will help stop troubled banks forcing their governments to seek bailouts.

The Bank of Japan's outgoing governor on Tuesday acknowledged he failed to end the country's long-running deflation

Taiwan said Tuesday it would privatise its sole aircraft maker Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) as part of a government drive to offload large state-owned assets.

Beijing lashed out Tuesday at a US court that ordered two Chinese pharmaceutical companies to pay $162 million for price-fixing in the US market, saying the ruling infringed its sovereignty.

British oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy said on Tuesday that net profits slumped last year as income from oil output fell sharply after the group slashed its stake in Cairn India.

Cyprus turned to Russia on Tuesday as President Nicos Anastasiades battled to garner support from lawmakers for a controversial eurozone bailout deal that the central bank warned was in danger of collapse.

The controversial levy on bank savings in Cyprus will not be repeated in other European countries, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Tuesday, saying a unique situation had gripped Nicosia.

US road safety regulators are investigating fuel leaks on Mercedes-Benz E-class cars after hundreds of complaints from owners of the vehicles.

British finance minister George Osborne will order ministries to make a further £2.5 billion in cuts over the next two years in his budget this week, the government said Tuesday.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has called an emergency meeting of party leaders for Wednesday, the presidency said, amid reports a parliamentary vote on a controversial EU bailout deal may again be delayed.