Lawyers for Greg Kelly, the American executive arrested last month with Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn on suspicion of underreporting Ghosn's pay, protested his prolonged stay in Japanese detention Wednesday.

The Tokyo District Court confirmed it received the protest. Lawyers often file such protests in Japan, where suspects get detained for weeks, sometimes months, before they face trial. Such protests tend to be routinely rejected.

Mexico's energy regulator said Tuesday it was canceling its remaining oil block auctions for private firms, the centerpiece of the country's landmark energy reform, now under attack by new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Cash-strapped Avianca Brasil, the country's fourth-largest airline, on Tuesday sought bankruptcy protection from creditors but reassured passengers that flights will continue.

Top Chinese and US negotiators held telephone talks on Tuesday to exchange views on the timetable of trade talks, the Chinese commerce ministry said.

A Chinese court ordered a ban in the country on iPhone sales in a patent dispute between U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm and Apple, according to a Qualcomm statement Monday.

Germany was plunged into transport chaos Monday as train services were halted by a railworkers' strike over pay, affecting millions of passengers.

Britain's Brexit-facing economy experienced sluggish growth in October as the car sector stalled, official data showed  Monday.

Gross domestic product grew by just 0.1 percent in October from September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

Japanese prosecutors have formally charged Carlos Ghosn with financial misconduct for under-reporting his salary, local media reported on Monday, three weeks after the auto tycoon's arrest stunned the business world.

Former Nissan chairman Ghosn, 64, has been in detention since his November 19 arrest on suspicion of under-declaring his income by some five billion yen ($44 million) between 2010 and 2015.

China's trade surplus with the US ballooned in November to a record $35.6 billion as exports rose and imports shrank, official figures showed Saturday. 

Exports to the US rose 9.8 percent for November on-year, while imports for the month fell 25 percent on-year, the data from China's customs administration showed.   

OPEC and partner countries including Russia agreed on Friday to cut oil output by a combined 1.2 million barrels a day in the hope of boosting prices, Iraq's oil minister said.