French oil giant Total said Monday that it would buy Maersk Oil, a unit of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, for $7.45 billion (6.35 billion euros).

Insolvent German airline Air Berlin hopes to complete its sale by September, the group's chief executive said, as government officials fended off accusations of favouring Lufthansa in the bankruptcy process.

US business economists worry about the prospects for President Donald Trump's policy agenda, and the potential damage to the economy from his trade and immigration policies, according to a survey released Monday.

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.