Stock markets rose Monday in the first trading day of 2022 following stellar performances last year, as investors keep an eye on the coronavirus pandemic, inflation and looming central bank rate decisions.

Turkey's consumer prices have soared by the highest rate since 2002, further undermining President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unorthodox battle for his developing country's "economic independence."

Turkey's annual inflation rate surged to its highest level since 2002 in December, official data showed Monday, after a currency crisis sparked by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unconventional economic policies.

Turkey's currency crisis turned increasingly political on Thursday after a top minister urged citizens to sue economists who comment on social media about the lira's slide.

European stock markets rose slightly Thursday in quiet end-of-year trading as the Omicron variant dominates sentiment. 

Aviation giant Emirates said Thursday it expects business to grow next year despite the surge in global coronavirus cases fuelled by the Omicron variant.

The Dubai-based carrier said in November it was already on the path to recovery as six-month losses dropped by more than half from a year earlier.

Israel's Environment Minister said Thursday a clandestine oil deal that would have turned a scuba divers' paradise into a waypoint for Emirati oil headed for Western markets has effectively been blocked.

Tamar Zandberg told Israeli Army Radio that following a Justice Ministry opinion that her office had the authority to limit the activities of the Israeli government-owned corporation signed onto the deal, "the agreement cannot be realized."

The dozens of Type 90, or "Kyumaru," tanks rumbling through recent shooting drills on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido exemplify the challenge its arms makers face both at home and overseas as the country fortifies its defenses against strategic threats.

The Self Defense Force needs the more advanced aircraft and weaponry sold by U.S. arms manufacturers as Japan's strategic focus shifts from Russia in the north to the south, where it faces incursions by Chinese fighter jets and naval vessels and North Korean missile launches.

China is calling on the United States to protect a Chinese space station and its three-member crew after Beijing complained that satellites launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX nearly struck the station.

A foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington on Tuesday of ignoring its treaty obligations to protect the safety of the Tiangong station's three-member crew following the July 1 and Oct. 21 incidents.

Indonesia said Wednesday it is lifting its ban on Boeing's 737 Max aircraft, three years after one crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff killing all 189 people on board.

The Transportation Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the aircraft will be permitted to fly in Indonesia, but only after airlines carry out airworthiness directives.