The US and Japan on Thursday discussed accelerating talks on strengthening bilateral trade as well as bolstering economic relations, the US Trade Representative's office said.

At 93, Elias al-Najjar has spent half a century harvesting salt by hand from ponds on Lebanon's Mediterranean shore, but he and his colleagues fear their way of life is dying.

Standing in a warehouse in a Moscow suburb, Dmitry Marinichev tries to speak over the deafening hum of hundreds of computers stacked on shelves hard at work mining for crypto money.

"The form of currency we are used to is about to disappear," predicts the 42-year-old entrepreneur, who also works as President Vladimir Putin's adviser on internet matters.

Britain's unemployment rate has struck a new 44-year low, official data showed Wednesday, as the uncertainty of Brexit boosts temporary hirings.

Qatar's economy has been hit by the sanctions imposed by a Saudi-led Arab bloc but the emirate's economy is strong enough to survive, analysts say.

Britain's annual inflation rate steadied in July, with an expected rise failing to materialise as the pound recovers from a Brexit-fuelled slump, official data showed Tuesday.

The Damascus International Fair, the top event on pre-war Syria's economic calendar, is making a comeback this week after a five-year absence with western companies among participants from 23 countries.

Australia's biggest bank has admitted failures costing staff and customers millions of dollars as the troubled lender faces legal action over alleged breaches of money laundering and terror financing laws.

- Economy -The oil-exporting nation's 2016 gross domestic product is put at $333 billion by the IMF -- but that's calculated on the official currency exchange rate. If the current black market rate to the dollar were used, that number would be significantly less, as highlighted by Venezuelan analysts who speak of less than half that. The government hasn't released an official figure.

China's industrial output, a key engine of growth, slowed sharply in July as government efforts to rein in debt weighed on demand and economic activity, official data showed Monday.

The figures come as the authorities have sought to tighten regulations to tame debt as well as reduce excess capacity left over from massive government-backed infrastructure spending at the height of the global financial crisis.