New applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell by 89,000 last week after two weeks of increases but remain high as Covid-19 cases have spiked, according to government data Thursday.

Stock markets rose and the dollar fell Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump called a key US stimulus package "a disgrace" and told lawmakers to fix it.

Canada and Britain have signed a temporary agreement to avoid an increase in tariffs between the two countries after the British exit from the European Union in early 2021, Ottawa said Tuesday.

At the end of November, the two countries announced they had concluded a provisional post-Brexit trade agreement that would reflect, as of January 1, the terms of the deal that Britain benefited from as a member state of the EU. 

The U.S. Justice Department sued Walmart over its role in the opioid crisis on Tuesday, alleging the giant retailer wrongly filled prescriptions and worsened a public health disaster.

Concerns about soaring virus cases and new lockdowns sent equities and oil tumbling again Tuesday, while fears over a new strain in Britain and stuttering Brexit trade talks kept the pound under pressure.

UK government borrowing continued to soar in November on emergency action to support the virus-hit economy which nevertheless rebounded stronger than expected in the third quarter, official data showed Tuesday.

The board of the International Monetary Fund on Monday decided to immediately release $2 billion to help virus-hit Ecuador, the institution announced.

EU and UK trade talks inched onwards under renewed pressure Monday as transport chaos triggered by the emergence of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus in Britain overshadowed efforts to reach a Brexit deal.

Britain could face a shortage of fresh produce and greens due to transport chaos at the border as tortuous Brexit talks linger and more countries shut borders after the emergence of a more contagious Covid-19 variant in England.

A new round of pandemic relief checks for Americans will start going out next week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday.