Industrial action brought fresh disruption for travellers in Britain on Tuesday as rail workers and airline cabin crew walked off the job, the day after a major strike on the London Underground.

Japan's top pharmaceutical company Takeda said it is buying a US cancer drugmaker for $5.2 billion, as its top executive left the door open to more overseas acquisitions.

Takeda is paying $24 a share for Ariad Pharmaceuticals, a premium of about 75 percent over Ariad's closing price on Friday, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

The Turkish lira, pounded by higher-than-expected inflation and security fears, hit record lows against the dollar on Monday after a gloomy Moody's statement.

A major contractor on Riyadh's $22.5 billion urban rail and bus system said Monday the project is on track despite Saudi government cuts to infrastructure last year after oil revenues fell.

Embattled President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday raised the minimum wage by 50 percent in Venezuela, a country with astronomical inflation.

Maduro said he was raising the minimum wage to 40 bolivars, about 60 dollars at the highest official exchange rate, or $12 on the black market.

Swedish automaker Volvo said Sunday that it expects to export half of the cars produced at a future plant in the United States. 

The first plant in North America by Volvo, a company owned by a Chinese automotive group, will begin producing the next generation of S60 mid-size sedans in 2018, according to Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson. 

Fiat Chrysler on Sunday announced it was creating 2,000 jobs in the United States, coming as President-elect Donald Trump has been publicly scolding automakers for investing in Mexico.

The American-Italian firm will invest $1 billion by 2020 in two of its factories in the Midwestern states of Michigan and Ohio, where the new jobs will be based, the company said in a statement coming on the eve of the Detroit auto show.

The global auto industry on Monday was bracing for more confrontational tweets from President-elect Donald Trump, with the festive Detroit auto show due to kick off here.

As their smartphone screens lit up with ride requests last month, Uber drivers in the Moroccan city of Casablanca must have thought that business was booming.

As belly dancers sway to the music of an Egyptian band playing at a young girl's birthday party, the guests count their cash to add to the pot.