World shares declined Friday after a sell-off on Wall Street spurred by news that inflation in the U.S. jumped 7.5% in January.
Benchmarks fell in London, Paris and Hong Kong and U.S. futures also were lower. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

Without much fuss and even less public attention, the nation's egg producers are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar shift to cage-free eggs that is dramatically changing the lives of millions of hens in response to new laws and demands from restaurant chains.
In a decade, the percentage of hens in cage-free housing has soared from 4% in 2010 to 28% in 2020, and that figure is expected to more than double to about 70% in the next four years.

Mehmet Bogday says his jaw dropped when he saw his electricity bill — it was higher than the rent he pays for his Istanbul restaurant selling traditional Turkish wraps, and more than double what he paid a month ago.
"This is unsustainable," said Bogday, who owns the Asmali Mescit Durumcusu restaurant. "If it continues this way, we will have to lay off staff. If it continues this way, we won't be able to make this work. We'll either downsize, or close and go sit at home."

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said Friday that a new law for the ports, including the port of Beirut, is being prepared.
He added, in a ceremony at the Grand Serail, that Beirut's port must be rebuilt for it to attract optimal investments.

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the 2022 state budget during a session at the Baabda Palace.
Speaking at a press conference after the session, Prime Minister Najib Miqati said the budget’s revenues are expected to be LBP 39,000 billion and its expenditure is expected to be LBP 47,000 billion.

Twitter's shares jumped in early trading Thursday after it posted strong revenue growth last year and announced a $4 billion share buyback program. That's despite losing money in 2021 and falling short of Wall Street's expectations for user growth in the final quarter of the year.
Revenue increased 37%, to $5.08 billion, compared with 2020. But it reported a net loss of $221 million for the year largely tied to the settlement of a shareholder lawsuit.

U.S. markets were mixed ahead of the opening bell Thursday as investors awaited data on U.S. inflation and employment.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial were up a slight 0.2%, while futures for the S&P 500 declined by 0.1%.

Tesla is recalling nearly 579,000 vehicles in the U.S. because a "Boombox" function can play sounds over an external speaker and obscure audible warnings for pedestrians.
The recall is the fourth made public in the last two weeks as U.S. safety regulators increase scrutiny of the nation's largest electric vehicle maker. In two of the recalls, Tesla made decisions that violate federal motor vehicle safety standards, while the others are software errors.

Budvar, the Czech brewer that has been in a long legal dispute with U.S. company Anheuser-Busch over use of the "Budweiser" brand, has registered a record output for the second straight pandemic year.
Budejovicky Budvar NP, a 126-year-old state-owned brewery, said its output rose 4.6% to 1.8 million hectoliters (47.8 million gallons) in 2021, according to preliminary results released on Thursday.

The foreign ministers of Australia and Lithuania agreed Wednesday to step up cooperation on strategic challenges, in particular pressures from China.
Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne met Wednesday at Parliament House.
