The pan-Arab news giant Al-Jazeera bought Current TV, a struggling U.S. cable channel, Wednesday in a deal aimed at giving the Qatar-based broadcaster the scope to challenge major American TV networks.

Current, co-founded by former U.S. vice president Al Gore, announced the sale in a statement that was later confirmed by Al-Jazeera. The acquisition will allow the latter to reach millions more U.S. homes than it does at present.

President Barack Obama has signed into law a contentious compromise bill hammered out in Congress that narrowly averted the U.S. 'fiscal cliff of tax hikes and drastic, immediate cuts in spending, the White House said early Thursday.

In a statement, the White House said that Obama late on Wednesday signed the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012," raising taxes on households earning above $450,000 and delaying spending decisions for two months.

Asian markets were mixed Thursday following the previous day's huge gains after U.S. lawmakers agreed a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, while concerns over upcoming fights in Washington hurt sentiment.

The yen clawed back some of its losses against the euro and dollar but remains under pressure on expectations of further monetary easing by the Bank of Japan.

Dubai's Emirates Airlines began operations on Wednesday from the world's first concourse dedicated to Airbus' A380 super jumbos at the Gulf emirate's rapidly expanding airport.

Concourse A, which cost $3 billion (2.3 billion euros) to build, gives Emirates -- one of the fastest-growing carriers -- an additional airport capacity of 15 million passengers a year, the company said.

World markets soared Wednesday after a tense New Year break, relieved after U.S. lawmakers agreed a last-minute deal to avert massive tax hikes and pull their nation back from the fiscal cliff.

Congress voted overnight on a stop-gap agreement that avoided across-the-board tax hikes and automatic spending cuts that had threatened to unleash economic turmoil and perhaps drive America back into recession.

Spanish consumer prices rose by 3.0 percent over the year to December as a sales tax rise hit shoppers in the pocket, provisional figures showed Wednesday.

The inflation rate was unchanged from November, said a report by the National Statistics Institute, which gave no breakdown of prices in the month.

South Korea's top automaker, Hyundai Motor Group, forecast Wednesday a modest 4.1 percent increase in car sales this year to 7.4 million units, with a strong won harming competitiveness.

The projected growth is the lowest since 2007 when the company's global sales rose 3.9 percent, according to data compiled by Agence France Presse.

British Prime Minister David Cameron called on his fellow G8 leaders on Wednesday to start work now on agreeing "bold steps" to help boost global economic growth, ahead of a summit he will host in June.

In a letter marking the start of Britain's presidency of the Group of Eight richest nations, Cameron laid out his three priorities for the year: to extend free trade, tackle tax evasion and combat corruption.

President Barack Obama said Tuesday he had fulfilled a campaign promise to make the U.S. tax system fairer with a deal to avert the fiscal cliff crisis that passed after a fierce duel in Congress.

"The one thing that I think hopefully in the New Year we'll focus on is seeing if we can put a package like this together with a little bit less drama, a little bit less brinksmanship, not scare the heck out of folks quite as much," he said.

Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said on Tuesday he hoped the eurozone's fourth economy would see a return to job creation in the last quarter of 2013.

"I think 2013 will be better than 2012," de Guindos said on Cadena Ser radio.