Germany top court on Friday backed Volkswagen owners' claims against the firm over cars rigged to cheat regulatory emissions tests, in an opinion that could guide lower courts' rulings.

President Donald Trump is due to meet Friday afternoon with China's top trade negotiator, as talks continue to try to defuse the escalation of the tariff war between the world's economic superpowers.

Removing U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum would benefit the United States, Mexico and Canada, a top U.S. official said Thursday, adding that he was hopeful it will happen "sooner rather than later."

Former Renault and Nissan head Carlos Ghosn and his wife invited friends to a $260,000 Carnival party in Brazil last year and charged it to his employers, documents seen by AFP show, a move Ghosn's lawyer defended as a routine corporate function for a multinational CEO.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday unveiled a crucial plank of his plan to overhaul Latin America's biggest economy, presenting a bill to Congress to reform his country's unsustainable pension system.

Carlos Ghosn's lawyer said Wednesday his client's high-profile and controversial detention was a chance to "mend" Japan's justice system, as he insisted the former Nissan boss was innocent of all charges.

Air France-KLM, which was badly hit last year by strikes and management upheaval, reported on Wednesday that its annual net profits rose by 150 percent to 409 million euros ($463 million).

"The strong performance of our front-line teams and continued cost control helped partly offset the impact of strikes at Air France in the first half of the year, as well as significant fuel headwinds," Benjamin Smith, the company's new chief executive, said in a statement.

More massive than the US economy, the national debt hit a new record of $22 trillion under President Donald Trump but Republicans who traditionally rail against debt and deficits have remained mum.

Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic mostly softened Tuesday after a mixed session in Asia, with investors harboring growing doubts over the chances of success at U.S.-China trade talks, dealers said.

"It is going to be a disaster," Mary Day warned, capturing the sense of doom that descended on the working class English town of Swindon after Honda announced it was closing its local plant after more than 30 years.