- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
Stock markets steady, oil prices fall
Stock markets largely steadied Tuesday while oil prices fell on easing geopolitical concerns surrounding major crude producers Iran and Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he had convinced Russia's Vladimir Putin not to escalate the crisis around Ukraine, ahead of talks in Kyiv aimed at defusing fears Moscow could invade.
Elsewhere, talks to revive a deal with Iran on its contested nuclear programme were set to resume Tuesday after Washington and Tehran signalled their willingness to clinch an agreement as soon as possible.
Edward Moya, analyst at trading group OANDA, said signs of progress in US-Iran nuclear talks -- which could see Tehran sell internationally again -- would likely not have much long-term impact on the oil price rally towards $100 per barrel.
"Energy traders locked in some profits over optimism that the US and Iran might be able to salvage a nuclear deal," he said.
"The oil market still remains heavily in deficit and whatever weakness happens to prices will likely be short-lived."
Surging oil prices -- Brent crude hit the highest level for more than seven years at $94 per barrel on Monday -- saw BP swing back into a big profit last year, the British energy giant announced.
The expected turnaround -- after huge losses in 2020 as the pandemic slammed oil prices -- saw BP's share price rise only modestly in London midday deals Tuesday.
- Chips race -
The big corporate story out of Asia was SoftBank's announcement that the $40 billion sale of chip powerhouse Arm to Nvidia had collapsed because of "significant regulatory challenges" over competition concerns.
Alongside the news, the Japanese telecoms firm-turned-investment giant reported a net profit of $251 million in the third quarter.
In Europe, the EU unveiled a 43-billion-euro plan to quadruple the supply of semiconductors in the region by 2030, hoping to limit the bloc's dependence on Asia for a key component used in electric cars and smartphones.
Stock markets in London and Paris were up while Frankfurt was down at around midday as traders await key US inflation data Thursday that is tipped to show more painful price rises in January after a four-decade high in December.
Investors are bracing for central banks to raise interest rates to tame inflation, a move that could weigh down on the global economic recovery.
- Key figures around 1200 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,578.62 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 15,185.20
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,021.25
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,115.71
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 27,284.52 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 24,329.49 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,452.63 (close)
New York - Dow: FLAT at 35,091.13 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1432 from $1.1440 late Monday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3562 from $1.3532
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.30 pence from 84.51 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 115.30 from 115.10 yen
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.9 percent at $90.95 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $89.64 per barrel
T.Ward--AMWN