His hands caked with paint and dust, Aakash looks right at home working at an auto repair shop -- except that he is a minor, one of millions forced into the Indian labor market.

Stock markets were mostly firmer Thursday, with investors increasingly confident Joe Biden and the Democratic Party will win the U.S. presidency and both houses of Congress, paving the way for a huge new coronavirus stimulus package, analysts said.

Advanced Micro Devices is reported to be in talks to buy chip-making rival Xilinx in a deal valued at more than $30 billion, further consolidating the industry.

A push to downgrade the EU's attendance at next month's G20 summit in Riyadh over human rights concerns marks another setback for Saudi plans to host a coming-out party on the world stage.

The European Parliament passed a wide-ranging resolution on Thursday calling for the European Union (EU) and its member states to downgrade their representation at the virtual summit in order to "avoid legitimizing impunity for human rights violations and ongoing illegal and arbitrary detentions in Saudi Arabia."

Pan-European stock market operator Euronext has agreed to buy the Milan bourse from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for 4.33 billion euros, the companies said Friday.

The LSE said previously it was considering a sale in order to meet EU regulator requirements that it divest certain assets in order to get approval for its purchase of US financial data provider Refinitiv.

A Paris appeals court on Thursday upheld an order for Google to negotiate with media groups in a long-running dispute about paying for online news.

Asian markets mostly rose Thursday as investors tracked a rally on Wall Street, with investors growing increasingly confident Joe Biden and Democrats will win the White House and both houses of Congress, paving the way for a huge new stimulus.

Financial firms will move around 150 billion euros (137 billion pounds, $176.6 billion) from Britain to France by the end of the year, when Britain's post-Brexit transition period ends, the head of the Bank of France said Wednesday.

Facing resurgent virus infections, Spain's government will on Wednesday unveil a recovery plan aimed at yanking the country out of its worst economic slump in decades.

Asian markets fluctuated Wednesday as traders weighed Donald Trump's decision to call off talks on a much-needed stimulus against expectations a rescue package will eventually be passed by whoever wins next month's election.

The shock move came just as US lawmakers appeared to be making some progress in months-long haggling and sent Wall Street plunging, reversing gains that had been fuelled by hopes for a breakthrough to help the beleaguered economy.