French-Swiss cement maker LafargeHolcim said Monday its chief executive Eric Olsen is stepping down following an internal investigation into the company's activities in Syria. 

Europe's stock markets and the euro surged Monday after moderate candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France's presidential election and looked set to triumph in the run-off against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen next month.

The euro rose sharply Monday as markets breathed a sigh of relief as first-round numbers showed centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron leading far-right eurosceptic Marine Le Pen.

The United States, which is considering new protectionist policies, believes in "free and fair" trade, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday.

"President Trump's agenda is to make sure that we have free and fair trade and I think, as you know, the United States is probably the most open trading market there is for both goods, services and investment," Mnuchin said.

China's electric-car market is already the world's biggest, but a government proposal to introduce "new energy" vehicle quotas for automakers is further charging it up.

Nigerian commander Remi Fadairo points to the roiling plume of black smoke blotting the morning horizon in the Niger Delta -— the unmistakable sign of an illicit oil refinery. 

Kuwait's appeals court ruled Sunday that a government decision to raise petrol prices was in line with the constitution, overturning a decision by a lower court.

Ivanka Trump's brand intensified its work in China as her father closed in on the Republican nomination for U.S. president, with her company applying for nearly twice as many trademarks in a five-month span as it had in the preceding eight years.

Ivanka Trump Marks LLC applied for 36 trademarks in China between March and July of last year. From 2008 through 2015, it applied for a total of just 19 trademarks, China's trademark database showed .

The co-founder of the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal says the fallout has set off a "thriving" boom in the creation of tax shelters in the United States.

Juergen Mossack, who partnered with Ramon Fonseca to create the Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca, said in a document obtained Thursday by AFP that after the Panama Papers leak a year ago, the number of new tax shelters created has fallen by 30 percent in Panama and elsewhere.

Russia's 200 richest people became some $100 billion richer in 2017 than last year, said the Russian Forbes which makes the annual ranking, attributing the growing wealth to rising commodities prices.

The total worth of Russia's two hundred richest was evaluated at $460 billion, up by $100 billion since 2016, while the number of Russian billionaires grew from 77 to 96 people after falling last year.