The European Central Bank has set a deadline of Friday for Latvia’s third-largest bank to plug a financing hole, the country’s finance minister said, as the Baltic state faced its worst financial difficulties in almost a decade. Earlier, ABLV said it had asked for a 480 million euro ($591 million) …

Afghanistan will host leaders from Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India on Friday for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Afghan section of a much-delayed multi-billion dollar gas pipeline connecting the four nations. The $10 billion mega project, known as Turkmenistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan-India, or TAPI, will connect Central Asia with South Asia and is expected …

General Motors has proposed $2.8 billion of fresh investment into its South Korean operations over the 10 years as part of its plan to restructure the embattled unit, a South Korean senior government official said on Wednesday. The offer comes as the Detroit carmaker and the South Korean government discuss …

South Korea’s cryptocurrency industry is anticipating much better times as the market regulator changes tack from its tough stance on the virtual coin trade, promising instead to help promote blockchain technology. The regulator said Tuesday that it hopes to see South Korea — which has become a hub for cryptocurrency …

South Korea said on Wednesday it is signing free trade agreements with five Central American nations aimed at boosting market access for the Korean auto sector and electronics makers. Trade minister Kim Hyun-chong will meet representatives from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama in Seoul on Wednesday to …

President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that Venezuela had received $735 million in the first day of a pre-sale of the country’s “petro” cryptocurrency, aimed at pulling the country out of an economic tailspin. Maduro is hoping the petro will allow the ailing OPEC member to skirt U.S. sanctions as the …

There are no talks between China and the separatists from Pakistan’s Baluchistan province regarding the protection of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a senator from the province told VOA. First reported by The Financial Times, several newspapers in Pakistan said that China has been quietly holding talks with Baluch (natives of …

President Michel Temer’s decision to throw in the towel on reforming Brazil’s loss-making pension system leaves the unpopular measure as a campaign issue for October’s elections and a major headache for his successor. Monday’s announcement that Temer was abandoning an overhaul of the social security system — billed as the …

Through medication and narcotics smuggling, ivory and people trafficking, oil theft and piracy, Africa is, by conservative estimates, losing about $50 billion a year in illicit financial flows — more, in fact, than it receives in official development assistance.  A report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development offers a …

When Markus Rohner flew into Cape Town’s airport this month, he found an unexpected line at the men’s washroom. With the city facing an unprecedented water shortage, airport authorities had turned off all the sink taps but one, leaving visitors to wait in line to wash their hands, under the …

Standing by a towering equatorial forest, Jean-Noel Kouame’s new breeze-block house may be beyond the reach of Ivory Coast’s power grid, but it’s perfectly located for solar power entrepreneurs. Buoyed by success in East Africa, off-grid solar power startups are pouring into West Africa, offering pay-as-you-go kits in a race …

Latvia’s central bank chief was suspended on Tuesday pending an investigation into whether he solicited a bribe, as corruption allegations and counter accusations rocked the financial sector of the eurozone country with close ties to neighboring Russia. The prime minister’s office said Ilmars Rimsevics had been suspended from his role …

The emergence of self-driving electric cars and travel sharing are set to dent oil consumption by 2040, oil and gas giant BP said, forecasting a peak in demand for the first time. In its benchmark annual Energy Outlook, BP forecast a 100-fold growth in electric vehicles by 2040, with its …

State-run Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) plans to add 1,745 megawatts (MW) of electricity from geothermal sources by 2025, part of a government push to end power generation from fossil fuels. “You are aware that going forward, the government policy which all generators including KenGen and including independent power producers, …

Venezuela on Tuesday will become the first country to launch its own version of bitcoin, a move it hopes will provide a much-needed boost to its credit-stricken economy. Officials say the so-called petro is backed by Venezuela’s crude oil reserves, the largest in the world. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro late …

For the first time in Ukraine’s history, U.S. anthracite is helping to keep the lights on and the heating going this winter following a deal that has also helped to warm Kyiv’s relations with President Donald Trump. The Ukrainian state-owned company that imported the coal told Reuters that the deal …

Brazil’s political affairs minister Carlos Marun said on Monday that passage of a bill to overhaul the country’s costly social security system has effectively ground to a halt in Congress and would become a campaign issue in this year’s election. Marun spoke to reporters after the head of the Senate, …

Latvia’s ABLV Bank sought emergency support Monday after U.S. officials accused it of helping breach North Korean sanctions while the country’s central bank chief faced bribery allegations, turning up the spotlight on its financial system. The Baltic country, which is a member of the euro zone and shares a border …

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday the final text of a revised Trans-Pacific trade pact would be released on Wednesday when her government publishes its own assessment of the deal. “We now have confirmation that we’ll…be able to release the text,” Ardern told reporters at Parliament. “…We …

Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis assured the country and Europe “there is no sign of danger,” after anti-corruption police arrested the head of the Latvian central bank Saturday. “For now, neither I, nor any other official, has any reason to interfere with the work of the Corruption Prevention Bureau,” Kucinskis …

The Commerce Department is urging President Donald Trump to impose tariffs or quotas on aluminum and steel imports from China and other countries. Unveiling the recommendations Friday, Secretary Wilbur Ross said in the case of both industries “the imports threaten to impair our national security.” As an example, Ross said …

The uncovering of one of the biggest frauds at a state-owned bank in India has rocked the country’s financial sector and brought scrutiny to a billionaire jeweler who counted Hollywood stars among his customers. The nearly $1.8 billion fraud reported at India’s second-largest state-owned bank is a blow to the …

Iraq’s prime minister was in Kuwait this week, selling his country as a promising investment opportunity. After years of war and sectarian violence, Iraq is moving toward stability and wants to attract the private sector to help fund its $88 billion reconstruction and recovery effort. From the Kuwaiti capital, VOA’s …

Top U.S. and Mexican officials on Thursday expressed cautious optimism that the North American Free Trade Agreement will be renegotiated, speaking ahead of the next round of trade talks later this month. Asked on local television whether it was more likely the $1.2 trillion trilateral trade pact would survive or …

Shares in European plane maker Airbus flew higher on Thursday after the company reported improved earnings and was more upbeat about the future following problems to several of its key aircraft programs.   The company said that it surged to a net profit of 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) in …