"Do you want a piece?" beekeeper Ma Gongzuo says, looking into the camera of a friend's smartphone before biting into the dripping comb of amber-colored honey.

America's trade deficit continued to tumble in November, hitting its lowest level in three years as imports of crude oil, computers and industrial supplies fell off sharply, the government reported Tuesday.

France and the United States have given themselves 15 days to settle a dispute over the taxation of US tech giants, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday.

Le Maire said he had a "long discussion" on the telephone Monday with his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin.

Consumer technology spending is getting a boost from wearables, smart devices and streaming media services and should hit record levels in the United States this year, organizers of a major tech gathering said Sunday.

Oil prices surged, gold hit a more than six-year high and most equities tumbled Monday after the U.S. assassination last week of a top Iranian general fanned fears of a major conflict in the Middle East.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged the United States Monday to renounce threatened sanctions on France in a dispute over taxation of tech giants, and warned of possible EU retaliation.

European stocks fell at the open on Friday, with investors rattled after a US strike killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, fanning fears of a Middle East conflict.

In initial trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies reversed 0.3 percent to 7,578.79 points.

Oil prices soared more than four percent Friday following news that the US had killed a top Iranian general, fanning fresh fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.

A labor walkout that has frustrated Paris commuters and marooned thousands of holiday travelers in France dragged into its 29th day on Thursday, becoming the country's longest continuous railway strike with no end in sight.

Car giant Volkswagen said Thursday it would open talks on a possible settlement in a mass lawsuit brought by hundreds of thousands of German diesel car owners over emissions cheating.