BUSINESS

Wavering world leaders were told Tuesday to speed up efforts to agree a global treaty on avoiding a new pandemic catastrophe -- four years to the day since Covid-19 was declared an international emergency.

The United States warned Tuesday it will reimpose sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas sector, relaxed under a reconciliation deal, after opponents to President Nicolas Maduro were barred from running against him.

US immigration reform has become the focus of a high-stakes political battle, with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump locking horns over one of the hottest issues of the 2024 election.

Queen Camilla will be the most high-profile public face of the British monarchy as her husband King Charles III and his daughter-in-law recuperate from surgery.

Iranian commentators warned Tuesday of a US military retaliation after Washington pledged a "very consequential" response to troop deaths, but largely agreed full-blown war was not in the offing.

Neuralink, Elon Musk's pioneering tech startup, claimed a major milestone with a successful brain implant in a human patient.

Businesses and shops in several cities in Kurdish-populated western Iran shut down Tuesday in a general strike protesting the hanging a day earlier of four Kurds convicted of collaborating with Israel, activists said.

General Motors reported higher quarterly profits Tuesday thanks to continued robust vehicle pricing amid strong North American demand, offsetting the hit from a labor strike.

The German economy contracted at the end of 2023, official data showed Tuesday, the latest gloomy news for Europe's export powerhouse as it battles high inflation and a manufacturing slowdown.

A new government agency to "protect Hungary's sovereignty" which starts work Thursday will have a "chilling effect" on the country's democracy, critics warn.

The eurozone economy narrowly avoided a technical recession in the second half of 2023 but stagnated in the final three months of the year, official data showed Tuesday.

French farmers were on Tuesday maintaining roadblocks on key highways into Paris for a second day, increasing pressure on the government for more concessions in an intensifying standoff.

Undercover Israeli agents, some disguised as medical staff, raided a West Bank hospital Tuesday and shot dead three Palestinians the army alleged were Hamas militants, in the first such operation in eight years.

Saudi Arabia has ordered energy giant Aramco to maintain its oil production capacity at 12 million barrels per day, abandoning a planned increase, the firm said on Tuesday.

Asian markets were mixed Tuesday as another record on Wall Street was unable to help extend the previous day's advance, with traders eyeing a Federal Reserve meeting, big-name earnings and key data.

Japan's Toyota said Tuesday that it sold a record 11.2 million vehicles in 2023, cementing its position as the world's top-selling automaker for the fourth successive year thanks to a recovery in demand in all regions and easing semiconductor shortages.

Storied auction house Sotheby's reported on Monday that sales had dipped last year to $7.9 billion, down $100 million from the record-breaking 2022 which was lifted by pent-up demand following the pandemic.

Even as her home country of Cuba crumbled around her, Elsa resisted joining the growing US-bound exodus until she felt she had no options left.

A message on X asked a major French channel to verify what seemed to be a Deutsche Welle report about a Ukrainian artist who "sawed down the Eiffel Tower."

Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay was slain in "an ambush" fueled "by greed and revenge," US prosecutors told jurors Monday, as defense lawyers cast doubt on available evidence in the trial over the alleged murder carried out 20 years ago.

Amazon on Monday said it was dropping its plans to buy the iRobot vacuum maker after the EU's antitrust authority objected to the plan over competition concerns.

The Federal Reserve's recent meeting maintained interest rates, while sparking speculation about potential cuts as analysts debate between March and May.

Forest fires which have engulfed Bogota in smoke over the past week have been fueled by highly flammable foreign plant species that have invaded Colombia's capital, experts say.

The parents of a 13-year-old accused of killing 10 people in a school shooting last year went on trial in the Serbian capital Belgrade Monday.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni once declared Italy's postal service a "crown jewel" that must stay in state hands, but she is now selling a stake as part of a privatisation programme to tackle a huge public debt.

African leaders gathered at a Rome summit on Monday to hear Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's much-hyped plan for the continent, aimed at transforming Italy into an energy hub -- and stopping migration.

Under-fire Dutch medical device maker Philips said Monday it would halt new sales of sleep machines in the United States after a series of recalls that continued to weigh on results.

African leaders gathered at a Rome summit Monday where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will unveil her much-hyped plan for the continent, aimed at transforming Italy into an energy hub and stopping migration.

Shares in Swiss construction giant Holcim surged on Monday after it announced plans to fully spin off its North America business.