The UK government on Friday urged the public against panic-buying as some petrol stations closed pumps due to a lack of lorry drivers to deliver fuel.

The European Union on Thursday said it will impose a universal charger for smartphones, setting up a clash with Apple and its widely used iPhone connector cable.

Fears that a Chinese real estate developer's possible default on multibillion-dollar debts might send shockwaves through global financial markets appeared to ease Thursday as creditors waited to see how much they might recover.

Shares of Evergrande Group, one of China's biggest private sector conglomerates, rose 18% in Hong Kong after the company said it would pay interest to bondholders in China.

Taiwan has applied to join an 11-nation Pacific trade group, Cabinet officials said Thursday, setting up a potential clash with rival Beijing over the status of the island democracy.

Taiwan's application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership might be disrupted if China, which applied last week, is admitted first, said John Deng, a minister without portfolio.

China's central bank will soon have access to private credit information of hundreds of millions of users of Ant Group's online credit service, in a move signaling more regulatory oversight of the financial technology sector.

Huabei, Ant Group's credit service, said in a statement that consumer credit data it has collected will be included in the People's Bank of China's financial credit information database.

The fully redesigned 2022 Honda Civic, which is now at dealerships, will certainly be of interest for many small-sedan shoppers. After all, the Civic has been one of the most popular cars sold in America for decades. The most noteworthy change is the Civic's more conventional styling. You might find it boring, or maybe it'll be a relief from the previous generation's generous use of angular creases. Underneath the smoother sheet metal is a similar lineup of engines and a smattering of new features.

A popular cross-shopped rival is the Toyota Corolla. The latest generation, which debuted for the 2020 model year, is one of the best Corollas to come out in a while, boasting sporty styling and an improved interior with nicer-feeling materials. Which small sedan is the better buy? Edmunds' experts compare the 2022 Civic and 2022 Corolla to find out.

Almost 3 million European Union workers can't afford to heat their homes amid a rise in energy prices, according to a labor organization's study released Wednesday.

The European Trade Union Confederation, which represents 45 million members, said that 15% of the EU's working poor - the equivalent of 2,713,578 people - lacks enough money to turn on the heating.

Lebanon's new government raised the price of fuel on Wednesday by 16%, the second time in five days, part of a gradual lifting of subsidies in the crisis-struck country.

The new hike brings the price of fuel, in short supply, closer to black market rates and comes after warnings from Lebanon's central bank that it can no longer continue to subsidize fuel purchases that have drained its foreign reserves. The Ministry of Energy announced the new prices in a statement.

Iran's oil minister has appointed a special envoy for Iraqi affairs, a first for the Islamic republic which is seeking $5 billion in arrears from its neighbor for gas exports.

The ministry's Shana news agency said Oil Minister Javad Owji had tasked Abbas Beheshti with "endeavoring to speed up settling gas export claims".

Iraq's association of cement manufacturers on Tuesday slammed a government decision to reduce subsidies on fuel for the sector, warning the move risks factory closures and cement price increases.

The oil ministry earlier this month raised the price of fuel sold to cement manufactures from 150 dinars per liter (around 10 cents) to 250, following on from a previous hike earlier in the year.