US retailers opened their doors on Saturday to what they hope will be swarms of shoppers searching for last-minute holiday gifts, despite surging cases of the coronavirus, including the new, highly-contagious Omicron variant.

Debt problems at a major Chinese property developer have now spilled over into a vital artery of the nation’s industrial engine - the steel sector - and started to ripple through to other critical parts of the world’s second-largest economy.

International ratings agency Fitch downgraded cash-strapped Sri Lanka Saturday due to mounting fears of a sovereign default on its $26 billion foreign debt, but Colombo insisted it will meet its obligations.

China’s factory output grew faster than expected in November, supported by stronger energy production and a moderation in sky-high materials costs, but new curbs to fight rising Covid-19 cases hit retailers in the world’s second-largest economy.

The poster child of China’s property crisis China Evergrande Group was officially declared in default by credit rating agency S&P Global on Friday after the sprawling firm missed a bond payment earlier this month.

Britain’s pandemic-weary hospitality businesses have taken a fresh hit from soaring coronavirus cases fueled by the Omicron variant, as anxious customers curtail socialising and cancel bookings over the Christmas period.

The European Parliament on Wednesday approved its proposal for major EU legislation to impose unprecedented restrictions on how tech giants do business.

Having averted a government shutdown and potential default this month, Democrats in the US Congress move on to the even harder task of passing President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill.

US retail sales increased less than expected in November, likely payback after surging in the prior month as Americans started their holiday shopping early to avoid empty shelves.

US industrial production climbed in November to its highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

Australian flag carrier Qantas on Thursday announced a deal to buy 40 Airbus aircraft, to renew its domestic fleet.

As the world hunkers down for Omicron, some investors might expect the global jet market to be withering away. Far from it.

The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March and pave the way for three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022 as the economy nears full employment and the US central bank copes with a surge of inflation.

The European Central Bank on Thursday said it would wind down pandemic-era bond buys as the eurozone comes under pressure from soaring inflation, even as concerns grow about the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Economic growth in the eurozone slowed to a nine-month low in December as a fresh wave of the coronavirus rattled businesses, especially in Germany, a closely watched survey said Thursday.

Sri Lanka’s economy shrank in the third quarter as a foreign exchange crisis wrecked its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed Thursday.

The World Bank’s fund to help the world’s poorest nations got a $93 billion injection of cash to help scale up aid for pandemic recovery and other programs, the institution announced Wednesday.

European Central Bank policymakers were to gather on Thursday for a crunch meeting, as soaring inflation heaps pressure on the bank to wind down its stimulus just as a new coronavirus variant threatens to derail the recovery.

India has approved a $10 billion incentive plan to attract semiconductor and display manufacturers, its technology minister said on Wednesday, as part of a deepening push to establish the country as a global electronics production hub.

The Japanese government overstated construction orders data received from builders for years, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday, an admission that could dent credibility of official statistics widely used by investors and economists.