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.

US-China trade talks aimed at ending a damaging tariff war will resume from Tuesday in Washington, the White House said.

Honda said Tuesday it plans to close its car factory in western England in 2021, imperiling 3,500 jobs in a fresh blow to the British economy as it faces its March 29 exit from the European Union.

The Japanese automaker announced the decision at a news conference in Tokyo, where Honda's president and CEO, Takahiro Hachigo, told reporters the decision was based on what made most sense for its global competitiveness in light of the need to accelerate its production of electric vehicles.

With top ally Venezuela in crisis, Cuba is moving to cover its oil needs elsewhere, seeking possible alternative supplies in Qatar and Algeria, officials said Monday.