Venezuela’s crude and fuel deliveries to Cuba have slid almost 13 percent in the first half this year, according to documents from state-run oil company PDVSA viewed by Reuters, threatening to worsen gasoline and power shortages in the communist-run island. Cuba’s government since 2016 has reduced fuel allocations 28 percent …

United Nations human rights experts on Thursday called on Peru to suspend negotiations on a new contract for a large oilfield in the Amazon until past pollution was cleaned up and the rights of indigenous groups respected. Canada’s Frontera Energy Corporation now operates Block 192 in the Peruvian Amazon and …

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Thursday said she believed the risks concerning inflation are “two-sided,” stressing that price gains could both accelerate or slow down.   Testifying for the second day before Congress, Yellen sought to expand on remarks she had made Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee …

The number of people living in poverty in Italy climbed to its highest level for more than a decade in 2016 despite a modest economic recovery, data showed on Thursday, in a report that could hurt the ruling Democratic Party (PD). Those living in “absolute poverty” rose to 4.74 million …

The U.S. and Mexico are looking to boost energy ties as the two countries ready for a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry visited Mexico on Thursday to meet with his counterpart, Pedro Joaquin Coldwell. Perry called Mexico “a very, very important partner” …

Thousands of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia are in a state of limbo as they try to return home after being ordered to leave the Gulf state. On March 29, Saudi Arabia launched a campaign it dubbed “Nation Without Violations,” giving all foreign immigrants living there illegally 90 days to leave …

The blast furnaces and slab casters at United States Steel’s Granite City Works have been idle for 18 months, and laid-off workers here are pinning their hopes on President Donald Trump imposing broad new restrictions on imported steel. Yet just across the Mississippi River, some manufacturers worry that new tariffs …

China says its trade with North Korea rose in the first six months of 2017, compared to the same period the year before. China’s Customs Administration announced Thursday that trade with the international pariah North grew 10.5 percent to $2.5 billion between January and June, with exports soaring to 29.1 …

South Korea’s economy is likely to expand 2.8 percent this year over a year earlier thanks to strong exports and robust capital spending by tech companies, Bank of Korea said Thursday, revising its earlier forecast upward slightly.   If growth is as forecast, Asia’s fourth largest economy will expand at …

McDonald’s is hoping to make a difference in its future seven seconds at a time.   The company that helped define fast food is making supersized efforts to reverse its fading popularity and catch up to a landscape that has evolved around it. That includes expanding delivery, digital ordering kiosks …

Working 50 meters (164 feet) under ground with minimal air supply, Uuganbaatar is one of thousands of Mongolians trying to make a living digging for coal. Although the mining season does not begin until autumn, when the ground freezes and work is safer, the 31-year-old and his colleagues are seeking …

Spanish companies will commit millions of pounds of investment to Britain on Thursday, the British government said, as it seeks to limit the economic impact of leaving the European Union. The investment plans, which include building trains and trams in Britain, coincide with a three-day state visit to Britain by …

It’s nearly midday at the bustling Tegeta bus terminal in Tanzania’s biggest city and Olivia Mbiku is busy preparing ugali – a popular maize meal – beef stew and vegetables for her customers. “I wake up early, light up the fire and rush to the market to buy meat, cooking …

The speaker of Brazil’s lower house vowed Wednesday to fight any changes President Michel Temer makes to a labor reform bill passed by the Senate, highlighting new tension between longtime political allies. The speaker, Rodrigo Maia, would replace Temer if Congress allows the Supreme Court to move ahead with a …

Iraq says it will offer new oil and gas exploration rights as it looks to boost energy revenues to fund its war against the Islamic State group and shore up its finances amid low oil prices.   Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi said late Tuesday that his ministry plans to …

When Janet Yellen delivers her testimony on the Federal Reserve’s semiannual report to Congress on Wednesday, investors may listen as much for clues to her own future – and the Fed’s – as they will to what she says about interest rate policy. The Fed chair is likely to repeat …

Japanese car parts company Takata on Tuesday recalled another 2.7 million air bags that it previously thought were safe. The recall affects certain Ford, Mazda and Nissan cars from the 2005 through 2012 model years. Takata’s air bags are inflated by a chemical — ammonium nitrate — in emergency situations, …

Three years ago, at the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency, Nigerian soldiers stopped all fishing activities in the country’s section of Lake Chad. Militants had infiltrated the ranks of the fishermen, the army said, and were using the guise to fund arms purchases and launch surprise attacks on innocent …

Opposition to a planned $3 billion coal-fired power plant in eastern Myanmar is highlighting the challenges facing Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in crafting a coherent energy policy in one of Asia’s poorest and most electricity-starved countries. With only a third of the country’s 60 million people connected to the …

The Trump administration on Tuesday removed Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab from two lists of approved vendors used by government agencies to purchase technology equipment, amid concerns the cybersecurity firm’s products could be used by the Kremlin to gain entry into U.S. networks. The delisting represents the most concrete action taken against …

China’s ambassador to the United States has said reports of trade growth between his country and North Korea, in spite of international efforts to press Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and missile programs, give “a distorted picture.” Last week U.S. President Donald Trump denounced China’s trade with North Korea, …

How do you explain the European Central Bank’s capital key in 140 characters? Or the U.S. Federal Reserve’s dot plot? Difficult. But International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde wants the world’s policymakers to try. At a conference in Croatia on Tuesday, Lagarde said convoluted fiscal and monetary policy proposals use …

Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved construction of the first phase of a $5.5-billion railway project to link the industrial eastern seaboard with southern China through landlocked Laos, as part of a regional infrastructure drive by Beijing. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who heads the Thai ruling junta, made use of an …

On the day they were freed from slavery, the fishermen hugged, high-fived and sprinted through a stinging rain to line up so they wouldn’t be left behind. But even as they learned they were going home, some wept at the thought of returning empty-handed and becoming one more mouth to …

Russia has indicated a potential new legal salvo in its trade war with Ukraine and the European Union, telling the World Trade Organization that a trade deal between Kiev and Brussels breaks the rules by penalizing Russia. Minutes of a June 29 meeting of the WTO’s committee on regional trade …