SINGAPORE (AP) — World markets were subdued on Friday after President Donald Trump said he doesn't plan to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping before their truce on raising tariffs in a festering trade dispute ends in early March. Futures point to opening losses on Wall Street. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell below $52.50 per barrel. The dollar weakened against the yen and strengthened against the euro.
BERLIN (AP) — German imports and exports both rose unexpectedly strongly in December, providing a positive note about the strength of Europe's largest economy amid growing worries. Official data showed exports rose 1.5 percent from November, to 112.3 billion euros ($127.3 billion), while imports rose 1.2 percent to 92.9 billion euros, adjusted for seasonal and calendar factors. That widened Germany's trade surplus to 19.4 billion euros from November's 18.9 billion euros. Economists had predicted a 0.4 percent rise in exports and a 0.5 percent rise in imports.
PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela (AP) — Thousands of Venezuelan oil workers are fleeing poverty wages and dangerous working conditions, taking lucrative jobs in far-flung parts of the world. With each new departure, fewer remain behind with the know-how to pump the world's most abundant oil reserves, once the economic backbone of a thriving country. The accelerating exodus of oil workers means that Venezuela's crude production — already at a seven-decade low — is unlikely to rebound anytime soon.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's leading cybersecurity agency is investigating a breach of the country's federal parliamentary computing network amid speculation of hacking by a foreign nation. Lawmakers and staff in the capital, Canberra, were made to change their passwords on the system after the overnight breach. A joint statement from House of Representatives Speaker Tony Smith and Senate President Scott Ryan says there's no evidence that data had been accessed in the breach, but investigations are continuing.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A report says a nationwide experiment with basic income in Finland has not increased employment among those participating during the first half of the two-year trial, but their general well-being seems to have increased. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, or Kela, said "it was not yet possible to draw any firm conclusions" from the experiment, where about 2,000 randomly selected, unemployed people aged 25-58 got tax-free income of 560 euros ($636) a month with no questions asked. The trial ends in 2020.
