COVID-19 vaccine sales boosted Pfizer earnings well past expectations in the fourth quarter, but the drugmaker is setting a lower-than-expected bar for 2022.

Pfizer debuted on Tuesday annual forecasts for both earnings and revenue that fell short of analyst expectations even as the drugmaker expects another robust year of sales from its vaccine, Comirnaty, and its new coronavirus treatment, Paxlovid.

Japanese automaker Nissan swung back into the black for the quarter through December, despite shortages of computer chips that have hit the entire industry and many other manufacturers.

Nissan Motor Co., allied with Renault SA of France, reported Tuesday a 32.7 billion yen ($284 million) profit for the fiscal third quarter, a reversal from the 37.8 billion yen loss racked up a year ago.

In a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, President Joe Biden met with Germany's new leader and vowed the crucial Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline will be blocked if Russia further invades Ukraine. Russia's Vladimir Putin retorted that the U.S. and its allies are the only ones talking invasion.

Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron met for more than five hours in Moscow at the same time Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke at the White House in efforts to defuse the crisis before armed conflict breaks out. Russia has massed thousands of troops at the Ukraine border, adding military might almost daily.

Swedish price comparison site PriceRunner said Monday it was suing tech giant Google for 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) for promoting its own shopping comparisons in search results.

Stock markets largely steadied Monday with sentiment dominated by the outlook for interest rate rises as inflation soars.

Wall Street appears headed for a modestly higher open to start the week as investors await more corporate earnings reports.

Futures for the S&P 500 ticked up 0.1% Monday while the contract for the Dow Jones Industrial futures was flat.

A Swiss criminal court was opening a trial Monday on charges that Credit Suisse failed to do enough to stop money laundering linked to drug trafficking by a Bulgarian criminal organization, which employed a wrestler who once hauled millions in currency by car to Switzerland.

The case against the bank in federal criminal court, in the southern city of Bellinzona, centers on charges that it "did not take all necessary measures to halt the infraction of money laundering" by one of its employees, according to a summary from the court announcing the start to the proceedings.

The new minimum wage is expected to reach seven million Lebanese Pounds, according to head of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers Beshara al-Asmar.

Asmar told al-Jadeed TV that the minimum wage is being discussed on an exchange rate of LBP 19,000 to 1 USD.

Cuba has announced a new 10 percent tax on retail food sales, as the country endures economic woes marked by rampant inflation.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has said that his conscience is clear despite the flurry of accusations against him.