A global litigation funder on Tuesday said it would back a shareholder class action against Australia's biggest bank over alleged breaches of anti-money laundering laws.

After decades of being Venezuela's cash cow, the state oil company PDVSA is a ragged shadow of its former self: overburdened, underfed, and in hock to Russian and Chinese creditors.

Asian and European stocks tumbled along with the South Korean won Monday while the safe-haven yen rallied on news that North Korea had tested what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb, ramping up international tensions.

Less than a week after it rattled global markets by firing a rocket over Japan, Pyongyang on Sunday conducted its sixth nuclear test -- sparking further condemnation and a warning from US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis of a "massive military response" if the US or its allies were attacked.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday acknowledged growing doubts over the relevance of the five-nation BRICS bloc of large emerging economies but called for the group to stick together even after China's tense border row with fellow member India.

Hafsa had hoped to land a much-needed job distributing meals for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday. One question stood in her way: "Are you, your husband, or any of your relatives Saudi?"

Markos Markakis is 28 and works up to 13 hours a day. It took him seven attempts to find his current job, and in Greece's precarious job environment, he counts himself lucky.

Israeli police said they detained six people Sunday for questioning over suspected corruption around a deal to buy submarines for Israel's navy from Germany's ThyssenKrupp.

A Brazilian court Wednesday ordered two former Petrobras officials to pay fines totaling more than $80 million for grossly mishandling the purchase of a Texas refinery.

Brazil's Court of Accounts (TCU) found the semi-public oil giant's former president Sergio Gabrielli and an ex-official of the state company, Nestor Cervero guilty of hurting the country's accounts in the deal.

China Construction Bank, one of the country's "big four" financial institutions, reported a moderate first-half profit rise and improving asset quality as a government crackdown on bad debt kicked in.

Crude prices fell further in Asian trade Thursday as refineries shut down by deadly storm Harvey in the key oil-producing U.S. Gulf Coast struggled to get back online, further piling up supplies.