US factory activity powered ahead in early April, though manufacturers increasingly struggled to source raw materials and other inputs as a reopening economy leads to a boom in domestic demand, which could slow momentum in the months ahead.

The United States, Norway and Britain joined forces with companies including Amazon and Nestle on Thursday to launch a project aimed at protecting the world’s tropical forests.

British retail sales jumped last month before a partial lifting of coronavirus restrictions, suggesting an economic rebound is under way, but official data also showed record peacetime government borrowing.

The dollar fell against major currencies on Friday as US yields languished and the euro got an extra late-day lift following a earlier boost from an upbeat survey of purchasing managers.

Oil settled higher on Friday, supported by bullish economic data from US and Europe, though a rise in coronavirus cases in India was still pressuring prices.

The German government is set to upgrade its growth forecast for this year as industry holds up well to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said Saturday.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies posted sharp losses on Friday, on concern that US President Joe Biden’s plan to raise capital gains taxes will curb investments in digital assets.

Wall Street rebounded Friday from earlier losses on reports that US President Joe Biden will seek a huge tax hike, but Europe remained on the back foot despite bright economic data.

Saudi Arabia announced Friday the suspension of fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon, saying shipments were being used for drug smuggling and accusing Beirut of inaction.

Some European Union governments will miss the April 30 deadline to submit their recovery plans to the European Commission, its Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday, but they are still likely to submit the plans within a few weeks afterwards.

For all the insouciance with which markets treated Washington’s latest sanctions on Russia, its move to target Moscow’s main funding avenue - the rouble bond market - has in some ways, crossed the Rubicon, potentially with far-reaching consequences.

Japan’s Nissan Motor will furlough around 800 workers at its production plant in Britain, as output slows there because of a semiconductor shortage, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

Toyota pioneered the world’s most successful hybrid car but when it comes to pure electric vehicles it has some catching up to do, especially in China.

Chinese secondhand electronics trading platform Aihuishou is aiming to raise $500 million to $1 billion in a US initial public offering by early June, said two people with direct knowledge.

The defense team for Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, will ask a Canadian court to delay upcoming hearings in her US extradition case, the court said on Friday.

Gold prices hit a seven-week high and global stocks scaled new records on Friday after strong US and Chinese economic data bolstered expectations of a solid global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Ant Group is exploring options for founder Jack Ma to divest his stake in the financial technology giant and give up control, as meetings with Chinese regulators signaled to the company that the move could help draw a line under Beijing’s scrutiny of its business, according to a source familiar with regulators’ thinking and two people with close ties to the company.

NASA awarded billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the moon as early as 2024, the agency said on Friday, picking it over Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics Inc.

A group of US electricity companies wrote to President Joe Biden this week saying it will work with his administration and Congress to design a broad set of policies to reach a near-term goal of slashing the sector’s carbon emissions by 2030.

Fewer than 200,000 businesses in the United States may have failed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lighter toll than initially feared and one that may have had relatively little impact on unemployment, according to Federal Reserve research.