Venezuela’s hyperinflation has turned the struggling OPEC nation’s once-powerful banks into warehouses of useless cash that are worth a total of only $40 million, according to a Reuters analysis of regulatory data. Although banks such as Citigroup Inc and Spain’s BBVA are maintaining operations in the hopes of better times, …

Vehicles lined up for hours at gas stations in Sudan’s capital Tuesday as a fuel shortage caused by the government’s difficulty in importing it because of  a foreign currency crisis hit home. Once an exporter of oil, Sudan was forced to begin importing it after the south seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of …

Peru’s poverty rate increased last year for the first time since 2001, rising one percentage point to 21.7 percent, according to government data published Tuesday. Peru had slashed its poverty rate by an average of about 4 percentage points between 2006 and 2012 on surging prices for the country’s key …

Global wine output fell to its lowest level in 60 years in 2017 due to poor weather conditions in the European Union that slashed production in the bloc, international wine organization OIV said. Wine production totaled 250 million hectolitres last year, down 8.6 percent from 2016, data from the Paris-based …

A new report by Britain’s Growth and Development Commission offered a mix of both good and bad news for poor countries: some of the countries in the report have achieved middle income status, and places once plagued by conflict and instability have shown signs of improvement. But the report also …

Technology is permeating and changing almost every industry, including fashion. From how clothes are made and purchased to your relationship with what you wear, computing power is reshaping fashion as we know it. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details. …

A cup of coffee is a good way for many to start the day. But it can also do far greater good. Manyang Kher, a former Sudanese child refugee – one of the so-called Lost Boys and now a US citizen – is passionate about helping refugees build a brighter …

Manyang Kher was three years old when he arrived at a refugee camp in Ethiopia’s Gambella region. During the 13 years, the South Sudanese native lived there, he observed lots of other children die. From hunger. From cholera. From attempting to flee the camp. “You fear every day because you …

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Sunday he is giving $4.5 million to the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat to cover a U.S. government funding gap for the international Paris climate accord. Bloomberg’s charitable foundation said the money will support work developing countries are doing to achieve their …

The World Bank’s shareholders on Saturday endorsed a $13 billion paid-in capital increase that will boost China’s shareholding but bring lending reforms that will raise borrowing costs for higher-middle-income countries, including China. The multilateral lender said the plan would allow it to lift the group’s overall lending to nearly $80 …

The World Bank’s shareholders on Saturday endorsed a $13 billion paid-in capital increase that will boost China’s shareholding but bring lending reforms that will raise borrowing costs for higher-middle-income countries, including China. The multilateral lender said the plan would allow it to lift the group’s overall lending to nearly $80 …

The European Union and Mexico reached an agreement Saturday on a new free trade deal, a coup for both parties in the face of increased protectionism from the United States under President Donald Trump. Since its plans for a trade alliance with the United States were frozen after Trump’s election …

The International Monetary Fund’s policymaking committee said Saturday that a strong world economy was threatened by increasing tension over trade and countries’ heavy debt burden. Longer-term prospects are clouded, it said, by sluggish growth in productivity and aging populations in wealthy nations. In a statement at the end of three …

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that he was contemplating a visit to China for discussions on issues that have global leaders concerned about a potentially damaging trade war. “I am not going to make any comment on timing, nor do I have anything confirmed, but a trip is under …

China has strongly refuted suggestions its multibillion-dollar economic corridor now under construction with Pakistan has “hidden” military designs as well.   Beijing has pledged to invest about $63 billion in Pakistan by 2030 to develop ports, highways, motorways, railways, airports, power plants and other infrastructure in the neighboring country, traditionally …

The European Union needs to be exempted from steel and aluminum tariffs announced by the United States in order to work with Washington on trade with China, France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday. “We are close allies between the EU and the United States. We cannot live with …

The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into whether AT&T, Verizon and a standards-setting group worked together to stop consumers from easily switching wireless carriers.   The companies confirmed the inquiry in separate statements late Friday in response to a report in The New York Times.    The U.S. …

Russian companies hit by U.S. sanctions, including aluminum giant Rusal, have asked for 100 billion rubles ($1.6 billion) in liquidity support from the government, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Friday. The United States on April 6 imposed sanctions against several Russian entities and individuals, including …

American banking giant Wells Fargo has agreed to pay federal regulators $1 billion to settle charges that it failed to identify and avert problems related to its mortgage and auto lending operations. The bank has admitted it sold unwanted or unnecessary automobile insurance to hundreds of thousands of its auto …

U.S. news reports say Wells Fargo will be fined as much as $1 billion for illegally selling customers car insurance policies they did not want or need, and for charging unnecessary fees in connection with mortgages. This would be the largest fine ever imposed by federal bank regulators and the Consumer …

The biggest danger from the U.S.-China trade dispute is the threat to global confidence and investment, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday. The IMF chief said the tariffs threatened by the world’s two largest economies would have a modest direct impact on the global economy but …

Russian aluminum giant Rusal is stockpiling large quantities of aluminum at one of its plants in Siberia because U.S. sanctions imposed this month have prevented it from selling the metal to customers, five sources close to the company said. With the firm’s own storage space filling up with unsold aluminum, …

Russia demanded compensation from the U.S. for its worldwide tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel Thursday, becoming the third influential member of the World Trade Organization to do so. China, the European Union and India have also objected, arguing the tariffs are a “safeguard” measure to protect U.S. domestic products …

Global diamond giant De Beers is rolling out an app to help small-scale, artisanal diamond miners in Sierra Leone certify that gems they pry from the soil are legal, the Anglo American unit said on Thursday. The initiative is the latest attempt by the industry to clean up its image …

As India battled an inexplicable currency shortage across many parts of the country, the government has quickly moved to assure the nation that it is fixing the shortfall. Hundreds of people this week have been encountering “Out of Cash” signs at automated teller machines which have run dry in some of the …