China's consumer and factory activity weakened in May and record-breaking unemployment among young people in cities rose as an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls slowed.

Surveys found 20.8% of potential workers in cities aged 16-24 were unemployed, up from April's previous record of 20.4%, the government reported Thursday.

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates says he is in Beijing, joining a series of foreign business figures who have visited China as the ruling Communist Party tries to revive investor interest in the country.

Gates, who stepped down as Microsoft chairman in 2014, said on Twitter late Wednesday that he would meet partners who have worked with his charitable foundation. However, Gates is revered in China as an entrepreneur, giving Chinese leaders a chance to show their interest in foreign business by publicizing any meetings with him.

The U.S. Federal Reserve may have hit "pause" on interest rate hikes, but the European Central Bank still has its finger on "fast forward" as inflation plagues consumers with higher costs for everything from groceries to utility bills and summer vacations.

Analysts say an increase of a quarter-percentage point is a foregone conclusion when the ECB's governing council meets Thursday, a day after the Fed took at least a temporary breather after 10 straight hikes.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip said his economic policies have not changed but he suggested that his finance minister will have leeway to move away from an unconventional approach that many have blamed for a worsening cost-of-living crisis.

Erdogan, who was reelected to a third term last month, appointed Mehmet Simsek, an internationally respected banker who served in the Cabinet previously, as treasury and finance minister. He also picked Hafize Gaye Erkan, a former U.S.-based bank executive, to head the central bank, the first woman hold the role.

Shell has effectively abandoned a plan to cut oil production by 1-2% per year until the end of the decade, instead maintaining output at current levels in a move that risks angering climate activists.

Ahead of an investor update in New York on Wednesday, Europe's largest energy company argued that it had already met the target it had set for itself in 2021 through asset sales.

European Union antitrust regulators took aim at Google's lucrative digital advertising business in an unprecedented decision, saying Wednesday that the tech giant must sell off some of its ad business to address competition concerns.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive branch and top antitrust enforcer, said its preliminary view after an investigation is that "only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services" would satisfy the concerns.

Toyota executives fielded challenges and reaped praise from investors at an annual general meeting Wednesday where shareholders ultimately rejected demands the automaker do better on fighting climate change.

The investor proposal was initiated by AkademikerPension, a $20 billion Danish investment fund. It accused Toyota Motor Corp. of lobbying to weaken efforts by governments around the world to phase out the internal combustion engine.

Two of the U.K.'s biggest mobile phone operators agreed Wednesday to merge their businesses to capitalize on the rollout of next-generation 5G wireless technology in the country.

The tie-up of Vodafone U.K. and Three, which is owned by Hong Kong's CK Hutchison, will create Britain's biggest mobile phone player, with a market value of around 15 billion pounds ($18.75 billion). Vodafone will account for 51% of the merged firm, with CK Hutchison owning the rest.

To help vulnerable Lebanese "continue to put food on the table and access medical care," the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing more than $17.4 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the people of Lebanon via the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and two non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the U.S. Embassy said.

"As staple food and fuel prices rise and livelihoods erode, Lebanon’s deepening economic crisis continues to generate humanitarian needs by decreasing vulnerable populations’ purchasing power, and restricting access to healthcare," the Embassy said in a statement.

Britain's main business lobby, the CBI, is "confident" of recovery after allegations of sexual misconduct threw it into crisis, the group's boss told MPs Tuesday.