A sharply divided US Senate failed on Monday to advance a measure to suspend the federal debt ceiling and avoid a partial government shutdown, as Republican lawmakers denied the bill the votes necessary to move forward.

A full US economic recovery  “will take time to complete,” a top Federal Reserve official said Monday, adding that effects from the far-reaching Delta variant of Covid-19 have surfaced in recent data.

A state crackdown on China’s colossal property market has helped send one of its biggest developers to the brink of collapse, and analysts warn the fallout could lead to the bursting of a bubble that has been building for more than two decades.

Goldman Sachs Tuesday lowered its annual economic growth forecast for China as nationwide power cuts hit millions of homes and halted production at factories, including some supplying Apple and Tesla.

Britain will begin talks on Tuesday with the 11 members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to join the pact it regards as important part of its future post-Brexit trade plans.

The purse strings have been loosened and will stay that way, no matter who heads Germany’s new government. That’s the verdict from investors who see potential gains for segments such as green finance alongside modestly higher bond yields.

Widening power shortages in China have halted production at numerous factories including many supplying Apple and Tesla, while some shops in the northeast operated by candlelight and malls shut early as the economic toll of the squeeze mounted.

European stock market listings have come back with a bang after the summer lull but blank cheque firms are nowhere to be seen.

Equity markets mostly rose in Asia on Monday following a broadly positive lead from Wall Street, while investors kept a nervous eye on developments in the crisis at troubled Chinese property giant Evergrande as it teeters on the brink.

Several Apple Inc and Tesla Inc suppliers have suspended production at some Chinese factories for a number of days to comply with tighter energy consumption policies, putting supply chains at risk in the peak season for electronics goods.

Traders of carpets, antiques and souvenirs on Kabul’s famed Chicken Street said Sunday business has completely dried up since the vast majority of foreigners left the Afghan capital as the Taliban took over.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed confidence on Sunday that the $1 trillion infrastructure bill will pass this week but sounded more doubtful about bringing it to the House floor on Monday as she previously pledged to do.

Up to 90 per cent of British fuel stations ran dry across major English cities on Monday after panic buying deepened a supply chain crisis triggered by a shortage of truckers that retailers are warning could batter the world’s fifth-largest economy.

US officials are set to tour Latin America this week to scout infrastructure projects as they prepare a counter to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.

Tesla Inc’s Shanghai factory is expected to produce 300,000 cars in the first nine months of the year, capped by a delivery rush in the end of the July-September quarter, despite a global semiconductor shortage, two sources said.

United Airlines was fined $1.9 million Friday by the US Transportation Department for violating federal rules on long tarmac delays and ordered to cease future similar violations.

Britain will issue up to 10,500 temporary work visas to lorry drivers and poultry workers to ease chronic staff shortages, the government announced Saturday, in a U-turn on post-Brexit immigration policy.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to commit to phasing out fossil fuels as a major climate conference approaches, while his deputy doubled down on opposing targets for net zero emissions of greenhouse gases.

Several local governments in China have set up special custodian accounts for property projects of its most indebted developer, Evergrande, to protect funds earmarked for housing projects from being diverted, media outlet Caixin said. 

Venezuela has agreed to a key contract to swap its heavy oil for Iranian condensate that it can use to improve the quality of its tar-like crude, with the first cargoes due this week, five people close to the deal said.