GENEVA: Negotiations at the World Trade Organization towards drawing up global e-commerce rules have concluded on a range of regulations, and should wrap up fully next year, the countries organizing the talks said Wednesday.

JOHANNESBURG: More than 2,000 platinum workers returned to the surface at a South African mine on Wednesday after ending a three day underground protest over conditions, the owners said. 

LONDON: Stock markets faltered Thursday following an early pre-Christmas rally that was fuelled by expectations the US Federal Reserve will slash interest rates next year as inflation cools in the world’s biggest economy.

NEW YORK: US electric scooter rental company Bird announced Wednesday that it filed for bankruptcy protection as the once-hot startup reorganizes itself.

BEIRUT: The impacts of the Zionist-Hamas war are set to push crisis-hit Lebanon’s economy back into recession, the World Bank said Thursday, blaming mainly a “shock to tourism spending”.

WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (KUNA) -- Four years into the economic and financial crisis, Lebanon's macroeconomic framework remains severely impaired, according to the latest World Bank Lebanon Economic Monitor released on Thursday.

TOKYO, Dec 21 (KUNA) -- China said on Thursday it firmly opposes the US placing 13 Chinese enterprises on its export-control "unverified list," state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

KUWAIT, Dec 21 (KUNA) -- The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar was stable at KD 0.307 on Thursday, while the euro went down to 0.19 percent to reach KD 0.336, compared to Wednesday's rates.

PARIS: Following a surge in attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeting cargo vessels in the Red Sea, major shipping companies have halted traffic through the crucial Bab Al-Mandeb strait.