The British government will Monday unveil its final budget before leaving the European Union and is widely expected to loosen the purse strings but it has also warned that a chaotic "no deal" Brexit could force it to change tack.

As the U.S. capital traded stifling summer heat for cool autumn breezes, signs began appearing at bus stops, asking Washington commuters: what do you think about buses going cash-free?

It took rickshaw driver Mohammad Rasheed a year to save 300 rupees to buy his daughter a bike, so when he found three billion rupees ($22.5 million) had passed through an unused bank account in his name, he was stunned ... and scared.

Until recently, Molly struggled to imagine life beyond the end of each repetitive day: work in someone else's fields and earn enough to eat, rinse, repeat.

Britain's finance minister pledged Sunday that "fiscal buffers" would be in place to deal with the potential chaos of the country crashing out of the European Union without a deal in March.

Philip Hammond was speaking ahead of his speech in parliament Monday in which he is to lay out Britain's last budget before Europe's second largest economy breaks up with the other 27 nations in the bloc.

Depending on whom you ask, ratings agencies are either would-be guardians of financial probity or an indispensable valuation tool for investors.

The Nasdaq tumbled early Friday as U.S. stocks resumed their downward slide following disappointing earnings announcements from Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet. 

Twenty-seven countries have raised concerns about Britain's future trading terms at the World Trade Organization, trade sources in Geneva told AFP on Friday, in a move that could delay post-Brexit free trade deals.

Japan and China signed $2.6 billion in business deals and touted their warmer ties on Friday during a rare visit to Beijing by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as both face trade challenges from U.S. President Donald Trump.

China produced around two new billionaires a week last year as the fortunes of the world's ultra-rich soared by a record amount, a report said Friday.