BUSINESS

In a video game industry known for cranking out sequels, Rockstar Games has cashed in big by making "Grand Theft Auto" fans painfully wait for their next fix of the shoot 'em up blockbuster.

Banque Pictet et Cie will pay nearly $123 million under a deferred prosecution agreement in which the private bank admitted to helping US taxpayers evade $50.6 million in taxes, US officials announced Monday.

The US Supreme Court appeared divided on Monday as it heard a challenge to Purdue Pharma's $6 billion opioids settlement immunizing the Sackler family that controlled the drugmaker from future litigation.

Ravaged forests, flooded towns and dead dolphins: after nearly two years of war in Ukraine, experts say environmental damage is becoming an "enormous" tragedy that will affect generations to come.

Britain's embattled Conservative government unveiled a raft of measures Monday aimed at cracking down on record levels of migration -- a key battleground in a general election expected next year.

Music streaming giant Spotify said Monday it would reduce its number of employees by around 17 percent in a bid to cut costs amid "dramatically" slower economic growth.

The UK's only giant pandas left Edinburgh for China on Monday after spending 12 cubless years in the Scottish capital.

Bitcoin on Monday rose past $40,000 for the first time since May last year, boosted by hopes that the United States will soon allow broader trading of the world's biggest cryptocurrency.

Heavily indebted Chinese property giant Evergrande has until late January to put together a restructuring plan, a Hong Kong court ruled Monday, extending a deadline that could lead to its liquidation.

A Hong Kong court on Monday gave Chinese property giant Evergrande until the end of January to put together a restructuring plan, offering the embattled firm much-needed breathing room as it teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.

Gold hit a fresh record Monday on growing optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the new year, with traders shrugging off boss Jerome Powell's attempts to temper expectations.

The US Supreme Court is to hear a challenge on Monday to Purdue Pharma's $6 billion opioids settlement immunizing the family that controlled the drugmaker from future litigation.

Like many Americans struggling to lose weight, Marissa Montanino felt compelled to try Ozempic or one of the other new so-called "wonder drugs" described as revolutionary in the fight against obesity.

Alaska Airlines announced Sunday that it would buy Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion, consolidating its position as the nation's fifth biggest carrier if it can attain regulatory approval.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Saturday urged lawmakers, Silicon Valley and US allies to stop China from getting semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies key to national security.

A UK interfaith coalition comprising religious, political and civic leaders, as well as grieving relatives of some of those killed in the Israel-Hamas war, held a vigil Sunday in London.

The East African Community (EAC) regional force began its withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday morning after Kinshasa deemed it ineffective and refused to renew its mandate.

As global tributes to late US diplomat Henry Kissinger poured in, his death stirred fury across Southeast Asia.

More than 100 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, landed in Indonesia's westernmost province on Saturday, officials said, but locals threatened to push them back to sea.

Myanmar pro-democracy fighters in a battered pickup truck drive past abandoned and bombed-out houses in the eastern city of Loikaw, on their way to the front lines of the battle to capture their first state capital from the junta.

Rapid developments in artificial intelligence -- and recent turmoil at industry powerhouse OpenAI -- have brought fresh attention to a key hub of ethics research related to the technology in Montreal, led by Canadian "godfather of AI" Yoshua Bengio.

Elon Musk's verbal assault on advertisers who have shunned X (formerly Twitter) threatens to sink the social network further, with the tycoon warning of the platform's demise, just one year after taking control.

The billionaire inventor James Dyson has lost a libel action against a British newspaper which commented on how he supported Brexit but then moved his business to Singapore, a judge ruled Friday.

It is still "premature" to speculate on when the US Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates despite the bank's recent progress on inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday.

Alexandra Greensted was one of around 10,000 Jewish children rescued from the Nazis' clutches and transported to London, but 84 years on, she is now worried about anti-Semitism in her UK haven.

Tourists are abandoning the Middle East region due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, putting at risk nations like Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, whose economies depend heavily upon international tourism.

Intense fighting erupted once again in Gaza on Friday as a week-long truce expired and Israel resumed its deadly bombardment of suspected Hamas positions in the densely inhabited Palestinian territory.

The unfinished Colne Valley Viaduct traces a gentle curve over several lakes northwest of London, a picturesque symbol that belies the ugly debate over the ambitious but expensive HS2 train line.

Asian markets drifted Friday following a mixed day on Wall Street, with data showing a continued fall in US inflation unable to relight the buying that characterised much of November.