A landmark free trade deal linking EU and Canada went into effect on Thursday despite lingering opposition from activists worried about the pact's consequences on the environment and health.

A referendum on independence for Iraqi Kurdistan set for September 25 comes as the autonomous region faces the worst economic crisis in its short history.

Taiwan's struggling smartphone maker HTC said on Thursday it would sell part of its smartphone business to Google for $1.1 billion as the US giant looks to take greater control of its hardware business.

Toshiba said Wednesday it would sell its memory chip business to a group led by U.S. investor Bain Capital, in a deal worth around $18 billion and seen as crucial to keeping the Japanese conglomerate afloat.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday that the U.S. will fall short of its ambitious economic growth goals unless it can accelerate promised policy changes, including tax reform.

The Trump administration has said it will push US growth to three percent annually -- a rate economists say is unrealistic, given the low U.S. unemployment rate, among other factors.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is set to create a $2.7 billion entertainment investment company, state media said Wednesday, as the ultra-conservative kingdom opens up avenues for leisure.

German heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp and Indian group Tata agreed Wednesday to merge their steel operations in Europe, taking second place in the continent's market behind ArcelorMittal.

Banking regulators in Beijing and Shanghai have ordered local cryptocurrency exchanges to shut down, state media reported Tuesday, in the latest blow to the once flourishing Chinese market for virtual money.

Saudi Arabia has raised $1.87 billion in a new Islamic bond issue as the kingdom bids to finance a budget deficit resulting from low oil prices.

Europe's stock markets wobbled at the open on Tuesday, the eve of an interest rate decision from the US Federal Reserve.