World markets diverged in thin holiday trade on Monday as fears lingered over the spreading Omicron coronavirus variant.

The highly mutated strain has fuelled a massive increase in cases across the globe, with countries reviving lockdowns, thousands of flights cancelled, and cruise ships returning to port with Covid-infected passengers.

The latest COVID-19 variant is upending holiday plans for tens of thousands of travelers — but it didn't do much damage to holiday shopping.

Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation's travel woes extended beyond Christmas, with no clear indication when normal schedules would resume.

The bitter cold of Afghanistan's winter has small children huddled beneath blankets in makeshift camps. Sick babies in hospitals lie wrapped in their mothers' all-enveloping burqas. Long lines at food distribution centers have become overwhelming as Afghanistan sinks deeper into desperate times.

Since the chaotic Aug. 15 Taliban takeover of Kabul, an already war-devastated economy once kept alive by international donations alone is now on the verge of collapse. There isn't enough money for hospitals.

Bulgarian shoppers are crossing Turkey's western border in packed cars and buses, taking advantage of a declining Turkish lira to fuel their own shopping sprees.

Their first stop is the currency exchange and then it's off to the markets and grocery stores in the northwestern Turkish city of Edirne.

The World Bank said it has agreed with its partners to repurpose $37 million in funds to help Lebanon's public school teachers survive a crushing economic crisis.

Nations around the world are lurching into lockdown, steeling themselves for a brutal surge as the omicron variant spreads like wildfire.

But in Dubai, Donna Sese is bracing for a very different surge: countless restaurant bookings and meter-long drink bills.

The Tokyo Olympics cost $1.8 billion less than anticipated, local organizers said Wednesday, 4 1/2 months after the Games ended.

Organizers said the estimated official costs were $13.6 billion. Officials said part of the reduction was because there were no fans — forced by the pandemic — and therefore vastly reduced labor costs. They also said other outlays were lower than expected.

The pipeline is built and being filled with natural gas. But Russia's Nord Stream 2 faces a rocky road before any gas flows to Germany, with its new leaders adopting a more skeptical tone toward the project and tensions ratcheting up over Russia's troop buildup at the Ukrainian border.

The pipeline opposed by Ukraine, Poland and the U.S. awaits approval from Germany and the European Union to bypass other countries and start bringing natural gas directly to Europe. The continent is struggling with a shortage that has sent prices surging, fueling inflation and raising fears about what would come next if gas supplies become critically low.

Tradition dictates that Venezuelans, children and adults alike, wear brand new clothes on Christmas and New Year's. Shirts, pants, dresses, stilettos and sneakers — all with that new smell and perfect, first-time fit. No wrinkles, stains or scratches allowed.

But the dollar bills circulating all across the country might as well show the Grinch instead of Washington this year. The government's loosening of controls on dollars may have made them easier to get, but it has also made them less valuable in Venezuelan shops, with dollar prices overall about 40% above those last year.

Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday after a worldwide slump for financial markets spurred by worries about how badly the omicron variant, inflation and other forces will hit the world economy.

Tokyo gained nearly 2% and other benchmarks in Asia also were higher.