EU member states gave the green light on Thursday for Brussels to open trade talks with Washington, diplomatic sources said, ending months of stalemate due to opposition from France.

German prosecutors confirmed Thursday they raided 19 separate locations across the country as part of a massive investigation into so-called "cum-ex" tax fraud.

Frankfurt's public prosecutors office said 181 investigators and tax officials raided 19 offices and private homes located across the states of Hessen, Lower Saxony, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria on Tuesday, in an operation relating to three separate cases.

Saudi Arabia has slashed its oil production by more than promised as part of a pact to boost oil prices, the International Energy Agency said Thursday, while warning of mixed signals for global demand.

The pound held its gains Thursday after Britain and its EU partners agreed to once again extend the deadline for Brexit, days before the cut-off for avoiding an economically calamitous no-deal divorce.

After hours of late-night talks Prime Minister Theresa May was given until the end of October to pass her deal for leaving the bloc through parliament, having failed three times already.

The wife of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn arrived at a Tokyo court Thursday for a closed-door hearing to answer questions over her husband's alleged financial misconduct, according to local media.

Uber is seeking to raise some $10 billion in what would be the largest stock offering of the year, with details coming this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The global ride-hailing giant is seeking a valuation close to $100 billion -- an impressive figure but below some earlier estimates amid an ebbing of enthusiasm on growth and profitability, the report said.

Russian investigators have asked a Moscow court to move U.S. investor Michael Calvey, who is accused of fraud, from pre-trial jail to house arrest.

OPEC's oil output dropped sharply last month as a result of steep production cuts in Venezuela and kingpin Saudi Arabia, the cartel said on Wednesday.

After his tank ran dry, Syrian taxi driver Abu Sammy had to get out and push his car with a passer-by's help to a long queue at a Damascus petrol station.

Lawyers for former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn on Wednesday appealed his ongoing detention to Japan's Supreme Court, after the auto tycoon was re-arrested last week while out on bail.