The main points of market access in a trade deal between the South American Mercosur bloc and the European Union need to be concluded by December, Brazil’s chief negotiator said on Thursday. The EU and Mercosur have committed to a series of negotiations until the end of the year in …

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday signed an order to hold more lease sales and to speed up approving permits to explore for oil and gas on federal land, a process he said got bogged down under former President Barack Obama. The order is the latest move by the …

U.S. federal prosecutors say arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby has agreed to turn over thousands of ancient artifacts from the Middle East after the company illegally smuggled them into the country. In a civil complaint filed Wednesday, the prosecutors said in 2010 Hobby Lobby paid $1.6 million for 5,500 …

Britain will lose its status as Europe’s top financial center unless it keeps borders open to specialist staff, improves infrastructure and expands links with emerging economies, TheCityUK said in a report published Thursday. The report from Britain’s most powerful financial lobby group said continental Europe might eventually become the preferred …

Bolstering flood defenses and moving families away from risky areas are high on the agenda for Argentina’s Santa Fe as the river port city looks to grow its economy and improve its infrastructure under a new urban plan. The inland city of around 400,000 in Argentina’s Pampas region also aims …

The global economic recovery “remains on track,” according to the International Monetary Fund, but other experts say advanced economies are in for a period of slow growth. The IMF study is published as leaders from the G-20, the world’s major economies, are gathering in Hamburg, Germany to discuss growth, trade …

Almost a year after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Brazilian organizers are asking for help from the International Olympic Committee to satisfy creditors who are still owed about 130 million reals ($40 million). Mario Andrada, a spokesman for the Rio organizing committee, said Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Nuzman would …

A new report finds flourishing tourism in Africa is putting millions of people to work and adding billions of dollars to national economies. The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s annual Economic Development in Africa Report projects continued robust growth in tourism in the coming years. Growth figures in Africa’s …

Rifts are widening in Theresa May’s Cabinet over Brexit with two rival schools of thoughts emerging, one favoring a sharp break with the European Union and the other, led by the ruling Conservatives’ increasingly influential Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, wanting closer ties with the European bloc. The mounting …

As police step up patrols and protesters set up camp in Hamburg, Germany, no one is expecting an easy weekend when U.S. President Donald Trump joins other heads of the world’s 20 leading economies. Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are on a collision course on issues of climate and …

Electric car maker Tesla says its much-ballyhooed Model 3 car for the masses will go on sale on Friday. CEO Elon Musk made the announcement Monday on Twitter.   The car is to start around $35,000 and with a $7,500 federal electric car tax credit, could cost $27,500. Tesla says …

For committed vegetarian Jay Wilde, taking over his father’s central England beef farm in 2011 gave rise to a significant ethical dilemma: how could he continue running his family business, while adhering to his principles? This year, Wilde took an unusual decision to resolve that conflict: he donated his Derbyshire …

Qatar has announced plans to sharply increase its natural gas production, a move that could be seen as preparation for a protracted dispute with its Gulf neighbors. State-owned Qatar Petroleum said Tuesday that it would boost its production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 30 percent over the next few …

Renewables are a fast-growing part of the energy that powers the United States, but a government report shows fossil fuels still provide energy for most of the economy. The Energy Information Administration says petroleum, natural gas, and coal provided 81 percent of the energy for the world’s largest economy in …

Feted by some British newspapers as proof of a Brexit vote windfall, Britain’s recent export recovery ranks as the worst among Europe’s major economies, according to one closely-watched measure. Surveys of manufacturers across Europe published by data firm IHS Markit on Monday underlined Britain’s challenge as it tries to become …

A global Danish transport and logistics company says it has restored most of its information technology systems after experiencing a major cyberattack last week that affected companies and government agencies in more than 60 countries. A.P. Moller-Maersk says it resumed container deliveries at its major ports Monday, but said it …

Qatar’s stock market fell sharply Sunday as a deadline for Doha to accept a series of political demands by four Arab states was expected to expire later in the day with no sign of a resolution. The Qatari stock index sank as much as 3.1 percent in thin trading, bringing …

One of Dakar Fashion Week’s biggest events is free — a fashion show in working class neighborhood, Niary Tally. The event’s founder, Senegalese designer Adama Paris, says the so-called “Street Show” is her favorite event of the week because she gets to take fashion back to the streets where it …

India is set to rollout a momentous tax reform at midnight Friday that will transform the country of 1.3 billion people into a single market. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will replace an entanglement of more than a dozen confusing levies with a single tax and bring down barriers …

U.S. economic growth in the first quarter of 2017 was better than expected but not by much. The Commerce Department says U.S. GDP, the broadest measure of goods and services produced in the country, grew 1.4 percent from January to March, 0.2 percent faster than the previous estimate. But many …

It looked like a hostage swap, only the currency was livestock and the mission was to end decades of deadly clashes. More than 50 sheep, goats and cows stood in the scorching heat of a desolate no-man’s land in arid northern Kenya, as Maasai and Samburu herders negotiated their handover. …

The U.S. economy grew a little faster than first thought in January, February and March. The Commerce Department said Thursday the world’s largest economy expanded at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the first quarter. This is two-tenths of a percent faster than first thought, a rate that many economists …

Many Americans in rural parts of the United States voted to elect Donald Trump as president in 2016, despite his stance against trade agreements. In the wake of the President Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, or TPP, and now curbing trade with Cuba, VOA’s Kane …

Nguyen Kim Lan used to make a decent living shuttling customers around town on his Honda motorbike. But his clientele has dwindled as young and tech-savvy Vietnamese increasingly use ride-hailing apps like Uber and Grab to summon cheaper, safer motorbike taxis.   The expansion of the ride-hailing services across Southeast …

Cuba earned more than $3 billion from tourism in 2016 and expects to better that this year despite President Donald Trump’s tightening of restrictions on U.S. travel to the Caribbean island, a government official said on Wednesday. “In 2016, revenue reached more than $3 billion in all activity linked to …