EU member states give political backing to Brussels' efforts to negotiate an investment pact with China on Monday, diplomats said, clearing the way for a deal.

Whether in Paris, Kuala Lumpur or California, gig economy workers fear they can no longer survive on meagre earnings from jobs that leave them increasingly vulnerable.

European stock markets opened firmer Monday, finding support after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new economic recovery package into law despite refusing to do so initially.

After delaying for nearly a week and under pressure from all sides, U.S. President Donald Trump finally signed a massive $900 billion stimulus bill Sunday, in a long-sought boost for millions of Americans and businesses battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany's main stock index reached a record high on Monday, buoyed by a pandemic recovery package agreed in the US and Britain's Brexit deal with the EU.

The 27 EU member states gave the green light on Monday for the post-Brexit trade deal to go into effect on January 1, a spokesman said.

Britain and the European Union have published the full text of the post-Brexit trade agreement aimed at governing their relationship when the UK definitively leaves the bloc's single market in just five days.

Britain left the EU on January 31, 2020, but ties between the bloc and its former member remained unchanged during a so-called transition period while both sides tried to work out a new trading relationship. 

Spain's coalition government is deeply split over a proposal to shorten the work week to four days to fight high unemployment sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dubai said Sunday it expects to cut its budget to $15.5 billion in 2021 after its economy was impacted by a plunge in tourism and other sectors amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.