German car makers Volkswagen and Audi said that an energy crunch caused by a cold snap in the United States would hit production from Thursday at their plants in central Mexico.

Streaming companies such as Spotify and Deezer are credited with rescuing the music industry from piracy, but while label executives rejoice in billion-dollar revenues, even top-level artists are struggling to survive.

In a Lebanese textile workshop, Umm Omar recalled making school uniforms and holiday garments -- before surging coronavirus cases forced her into the grim business of body bags.

European aircraft giant Airbus said Thursday it was able to limit its losses last year, even as the airline sector collapsed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Asian markets mostly fell Thursday on profit-taking and growing worries about inflation, which offset long-running optimism about the global recovery as vaccines are rolled out, infection rates slow and Joe Biden's stimulus winds through Congress.

Most markets fell in Asia on Wednesday, hit by profit-taking after a strong rally across the world in recent weeks, with investors worried valuations may have gone too far for now.

U.S. President Joe Biden is sidestepping a divided Congress and going straight to the nation Tuesday with a televised town hall in Wisconsin seeking support for his $1.9 trillion economic rescue package.

Wall Street stocks added to records early Tuesday, extending a positive run for equities ahead of key housing and retail data later in the holiday-shortened week.

Britain's government said Tuesday it intends to seek individual deals with each of the 27 EU member states on work permits for the creative industries, as anger grows among performers shut out of the bloc since Brexit.

Bitcoin soared above $50,000 for the first time on Tuesday after jumping almost 75 percent so far this year as heavyweight companies back the world's most popular virtual currency.