Europe's stock markets diverged Monday in a muted response to the U.S. government shutdown, and despite hopes that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be able to form a new administration.

Dubai-owned mammoth port operator DP World has formed a $3-billion joint investment platform with India's government-backed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, a statement said on Monday.

Swiss banking giant UBS reported Monday that its profits plummeted 63 percent last year due to US tax reforms that hit fourth-quarter earnings.

President Emmanuel Macron's campaign for a "French Renaissance" kicks into overdrive Monday as he welcomes 140 multinational business leaders before this week's jamboree of the rich and powerful in Davos.

A $16 billion deal with Emirates airline for A380 superjumbos will give Airbus "at least 10 years of visibility", the European manufacturer's CEO Tom Enders said in an interview published Sunday.

The World Bank on Sunday approved a $300 million loan for Nepal as the impoverished nation struggles to raise money to rebuild almost three years after an earthquake killed thousands and flattened homes.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia called Sunday for extending cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers beyond 2018, after a deal to cut output succeeded in shoring up prices.

Yemen's cash-strapped government on Sunday released its first official budget since the Huthi rebels overran the capital Sanaa in 2014 and following a bailout from ally Saudi Arabia.

A much-loved British biscuit has fallen victim to the Brexit-linked slump in the pound, as McVitie's Digestives on Friday said their packets will shrink.

Nearly 140 chief executives from companies around the world will gather at the Versailles Palace outside Paris on Monday, as the French government steps up its efforts to attract more foreign investors.