Chinese President Xi Jinping appears Friday as guest of honor at Russia's showcase economic forum, as the two neighbors present a united front in the face of shared troubles with the U.S.

Brazil's Supreme Court has approved an 8.6 billion dollar deal allowing state oil company Petrobras to sell its TAG pipeline network in a big win for the firm and the ruling party.

U.S. automaker Ford will close its engine plant in south Wales next year, threatening more than 1,500 jobs, in a "grotesque act of economic betrayal", British unions said on Thursday.

China said Thursday that it would soon release detailed information about a planned blacklist of "unreliable" companies and individuals as Beijing hits back in a trade war with Washington.

European stock markets and the euro climbed on Thursday awaiting a key policy update from the ECB, with focus also on the auto sector as the collapse of Fiat Chrysler's proposed merger with Renault sent shares in the French car giant tumbling.

Russia opened its showcase annual economic forum on Thursday, seeking to reassure foreign investors who have been shaken by recent arrests and slowing growth. 

Dubbed the "Russian Davos" when the economy was booming, the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum is hosted by President Vladimir Putin and this year comes amid an ongoing crisis with the West.

Stock markets rose Wednesday, following an overnight rally on Wall Street triggered by Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell indicating greater openness to lowering U.S. interest rates, helping to ease trade war growth worries.

The European Commission formally put Italy on notice Wednesday for its deteriorating deficit and huge debt, re-opening a battle with populist-led Rome.

German high-end car giant BMW and British group Jaguar Land Rover announced Wednesday they are teaming up to develop a new generation of electric motors.

A plant in northern France that makes a quarter of the world's Nutella has been blockaded for a week by workers striking for more pay, unions said Monday, in troubling news for consumers of the cocoa and hazelnut spread.