European auto sales plunged to the lowest point for 17 years in 2012, trade data showed on Wednesday, revealing the dire state of the sector despite the global strength of German automakers.

The figures came only hours after French manufacturer Renault announced the latest job cuts and restructuring in the European car industry.

China's super-rich suffer because of the pressures brought about by their fortunes and are less happy than ordinary millionaires, according to a survey by a leading wealth magazine.

"The richer you are, the less happy you are," concluded the poll of more than 500 Chinese millionaires by the Hurun Report, which compiles an annual list of China's richest people.

The World Bank's chief economist called on the United States Tuesday to end a series of political budget battles by undertaking structural economic reforms.

"It is time now for the U.S. to move on from fighting each fiscal fire successively," Kaushik Basu said in a conference call on the bank's latest economic report.

Japan's two biggest airlines on Wednesday grounded all their Dreamliners in the most serious blow yet to Boeing's troubled next-generation plane after an ANA flight was forced into an emergency landing.

The 787 Dreamliner has suffered more than a week of bad news that has prompted safety investigations by three national aviation regulators, although Boeing insists the highly fuel-efficient aircraft is safe.

The French auto industry was hit again on Tuesday when Renault said that it planned to cut its staff in the country by 7,500 workers by 2016 to become more competitive and prepare for the hiring of others with specific skills.

The company said that it would shed 5,700 jobs through natural attrition, with the balance coming from the extension of an early retirement program to all employees due to retire in three year's time, subject to an agreement with unions.

Once cogs in a dynamic industrial engine that helped power Syria's economy, the factories in a sprawling zone in the heart of battle-ravaged Aleppo now stand largely silent, the workers mostly fled.

In their place, thousands of people sheltering from the violence that has swept Syria's northern commercial capital since July, and from the severe winter weather that has brought misery to much of the Middle East.

French President Francois Hollande called on Tuesday for pumping more investments in renewable energy projects to prepare for the post-oil era and to avoid global warming.

"If we don't spend ... we will have a catastrophe," Hollande told the opening session of the World Future Energy Summit (WEFS) in Abu Dhabi.

Western nations have failed to capitalize on China's economic rise as they struggle with their own problems, leaving others to benefit from the Asian giant's insatiable demand, HSBC said Tuesday.

"The world economy is increasingly led by China. Those nations raising their China exposure have outperformed. Western nations, faced with internal discord, have failed to grab the opportunity," the bank said.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday urged Congress to raise the nation's borrowing limit as Democrats and Republicans battle over the federal budget.

"It's very, very important that Congress take the necessary action to raise the debt ceiling to avoid the situation where the government doesn't pay its bills," Bernanke said at a University of Michigan forum.

Prime Minister David Cameron must not risk jeopardising Britain's EU membership and damaging the weak economy, business chiefs warned ahead of the premier's key Europe speech later this week.

The Conservative premier was due to address the nation's strained relationship with the European Union on Friday, having already stated that he wanted to renegotiate the conditions of its membership with the 27-country bloc.