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Oil edges higher, on track for weekly gain on strong economic growth

Brent crude futures were up 53 cents, or 0.7%, at $82.93 a barrel by 1:48 p.m. ET (1848 GMT), and touched $83.57, their highest price since November

Adani to start data collection for Mumbai slum redevelopment in February

The survey will be done in two parts with a pilot phase first executed within three to four weeks with a few hundred residents. The full exercise will take nine months

H&M to shut a quarter of Spanish stores and lay off 588 employees

The company will carry out the layoffs for unspecified organizational, productive and economic reasons, unions CCOO and UGT said in a joint statement

Protesting over poor prices, French farmers block road linking France-Spain

The protests are now affecting traffic trying to cross into France from Spain on the AP-7 highway that runs along the Mediterranean coast from southern Spain to the frontier

Apple faces 'strong action' if App Store changes fall short, says EU

In a move designed to comply with the EU's incoming Digital Markets Act (DMA), the company will soon allow software developers to distribute their apps to Apple devices via alternative stores

US antitrust inquiry targets OpenAI, Anthropic's deals with big tech firms

In a statement, Microsoft said it would provide the FTC information to complete its review and that collaboration by American companies put the US ahead in AI

UK antitrust regulator begins investigation of Vodafone-Hutchison merger

The tie-up announced last year will reduce the number of mobile networks in Britain from four to three

China presses Iran to rein in Houthi attacks in Red Sea, says report

Freight through Suez Canal down 45% since Houthi attacks

Israel must take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, says ICJ

South Africa brought the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this month, asking it to grant emergency measures to halt the fighting, which has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians

UK's ruling party chairman hints at tax cuts in March and later in year

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt is due to set out his fiscal plans in an annual budget statement scheduled for March 6

Italy's debt risk premium hits 21-month low as traders eye rate cuts

Italian bonds have benefited from investors' hopes that interest rates will fall sharply this year, reducing pressure on the euro zone's more indebted countries

Israel's El Al airline suspends South Africa route over World Court case

'Israelis don't want to fly to South Africa,' said an El Al spokesperson. "They are cancelling flights and planes are pretty empty... We understand it's the situation because it was different before

Tesla to recall 200,000 vehicles in US to fix rearview glitch: Report

The development comes less than two months after the company recalled nearly all its vehicles in the United States to install new safeguards in its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system

American Express misses Q4 profit estimates on higher loan loss provisions

Eleven rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve have made borrowing expensive and increased risks of more defaults, especially as credit card debt is typically costlier than other loans

Tata group and France's Airbus to manufacture helicopters together

France is already India's second largest arms supplier and the South Asian nation has relied on its fighter jets for four decades now

Opec+ unlikely to decide oil policy on February 1, will wait several weeks

Oil prices have found support from more positive sentiment about demand this week and rising geopolitical tensions from attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi group on Red Sea shipping

Elon Musk's AI start-up seeks to raise up to $6 bn from global investors

Thanks to the popularity of OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT, the AI industry has been a rare bright spot in a subdued start-up funding environment

Job cuts in Britain 'least bad option', will continue talks: Tata Steel CEO

The steelmaker will close its two blast furnaces in Britain by the end of this year, axing up to 2,800 jobs at its Port Talbot steelworks in Wales

Parboiled rice rates spring to record highs on low supplies, firm demand

Traders noted that domestic supplies are accumulating, and that harvest has begun partially in the Mekong Delta, which is expected to peak in March

Moody's downgrades ratings of 17 Chinese local govt financing vehicles

It left the ratings of nine other Chinese LGFVs unchanged but cut their outlooks to negative too due to the same pressures.