Restaurants and cafes began reopening in parts of Europe and Central Asia on Monday after weeks of closures, eager to again welcome hungry patrons albeit under strict regulations, as schools also reopened in some countries.

World stock markets rose Monday on a further easing of coronavirus lockdowns around the world, sending US oil prices back above $30 per barrel, but haven investment gold hit a 2012 pinnacle on festering economic fears, dealers said.

Restaurants and churches will reopen in Italy on Monday as part of a fresh wave of lockdown easing in Europe, but rising coronavirus death tolls in Brazil, South Africa and other parts of the world showed the worst is still to come in many countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss a joint initiative to spur the EU's recovery from the coronavirus crisis on Monday, which will be presented during a joint press conference afterwards, the French presidency said.

More parts of Europe opened up on Friday despite fears of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, as shock new figures revealed the extent of the disease's toll on the U.S. and German economies.

Newly released economic data shows the US economy is in a terrible state and may not rebound quickly even when the devastating lockdowns imposed to stop the coronavirus pandemic are lifted.

Greece said Friday it will reopen some air and sea links from Monday as it begins exiting coronavirus lockdown in the hope the disease is sufficiently under control to allow tourists in.

Evening dresses made of gold mesh, gilded sunglasses and glittering crowns are sparkling again from the windows of Dubai’s historic gold souk which was shuttered during the coronavirus lockdown.

Most markets slipped Friday, at the end of a tough week for global markets that have been wracked by worries over a second wave of infections, rising China-US tensions and uncertainty about how long any economic recovery will take.

The CEO of the world's busiest airport for international travel wants to get the globe flying again, but even he acknowledges everything remains up in the air during the coronavirus pandemic.

Paul Griffiths oversees what now is a much quieter Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and crucial to East-West travel. The millions that once poured through the airport's concourses are no longer flying as countries around the world enforce lockdowns and travel bans to fight the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes.