Greece has reached a preliminary deal with its creditors that should pave the way for long-awaited debt relief talks, the Greek finance minister said Tuesday.

Tokyo shares rose Monday as investors cheered the yen's weakness as well as a deal on the U.S. budget which, if approved, will avert a government shutdown.

French shoppers would be paying for their baguettes in francs within a year if far-right candidate Marine Le Pen wins the presidential election next weekend, her Front National (FN) party's deputy leader said Monday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure fell in March, and a key component dropped for the first time in nearly 16 years, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

US congressional leaders have reached a deal on a federal spending bill which if passed by lawmakers this week will avert a government shutdown, a top lawmaker and congressional aides said late Sunday.

The agreement would keep federal operations running through September 30, the end of the fiscal year.

United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Philippe Lazzarini commended initiatives that contribute to maintaining peace and stability in Lebanon especially in areas that have witnessed consecutive rounds of clashes like Tripoli, an OCHA statement said.

“The UN will continue to support vulnerable Lebanese communities and present the youth with opportunities, especially in impoverished areas like Tripoli’s Beb El Tebbaneh,” said Lazzarini during the inauguration of the renovated Souk Beb El Dahab in Tripoli on 2 April.

The first freight train to link China directly to the UK arrived in the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu Saturday after covering over 12,000-kilometres (7,500 miles), making it the second-longest route in the world.

The journey is the latest effort in China's drive to strengthen trade links with western Europe along a modern-day "Silk Road" route. 

U.S. growth slowed to its lowest level in three years in the first quarter as consumer spending and government expenditures tumbled to their lowest levels in years, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Preliminary data showed GDP increased only 0.7 percent in the first three months of the year, down sharply from the 2.1 percent expansion seen in the fourth quarter of 2016. 

Uber has demoted an executive heading its self-driving car operations who has been at the center of a lawsuit filed by Alphabet's Waymo accusing the ride-sharing giant of theft.

An Uber spokesman on Thursday confirmed media reports that Anthony Levandowski would step down from his role.

Major transport networks, schools and banks partially shut down across much of Brazil on Friday in what protesters called a general strike against austerity reforms in Latin America's biggest country.