A state-owned asset management firm in western China made payments on a bond after missing a deadline in a rare instance of bond default by a local government financing vehicle, Reuters reported Aug. 15.
The U.S. Treasury Department issued sanctions against one individual and three entities from China, Russia and Singapore that it accused of illicitly trading hydrocarbons and luxury goods with North Korea, according to the department's website.
After a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Qatar promised to directly invest $15 billion into Turkey, Al Jazeera reported Aug. 15.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in Sochi on Aug. 15, AP reported.
In his annual Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi touted his accomplishments ahead of the 2019 elections and announced that India would launch a manned space mission by 2022, The Times of India reported Aug. 15.
Moody's Investors Service said it believes South Africa's economic grown and fiscal consolidation will be less than the government's projection, Bloomberg reported Aug. 15. This news and emerging market concerns have caused the value of South Africa's currency to drop 3.4 percent against the dollar.
A committee of lawmakers in the Mexican state of Guerrero approved a draft law to decriminalize the production and sale of opium for pharmaceutical purposes, El Heraldo de Mexico reported Aug. 15. The law will go to a vote in the state's Congress, after which it may be sent to Mexico's federal Congress for approval.
President Mauricio Macri announced that the Argentine government will eliminate a fund that provides liquidity from the national government to provinces and introduce a six-month suspension of tax cuts on exported soybean oil and meat, El Cronista reported Aug. 14.
The Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip has been reopened, The Jerusalem Post reported Aug. 15.
Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced Aug. 14 that the country would undergo a 15-day consultation process over ways to protect its steel industry, Bloomberg reported.
