A year into a political crisis which has claimed about 500 lives, driven a quarter of a million into exile and prompted Western donors to suspend government aid, Burundi's economy is on the ropes.

The central African country had only just begun to recover from a 1993-2006 ethnic-based civil war when it became sucked back into violence after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced a year ago that he would seek a third term in office.

Sales are falling off a cliff. Its reputation is in tatters. And even its top executive is talking about whether the automaker will survive.

Mitsubishi Motors' future is hanging in the balance for the second time in a decade after a bombshell admission that it has been cheating on fuel-economy tests for years.

Gretel de la Rosa, a budding Cuban businesswoman, had been in Mexico City for just a few hours, but she already had stuffed three bags with fabric for her shop back home.

While Cuba's communist regime has implemented modest economic reforms, allowing some private ventures, running a business on the island remains a challenge for trailblazers like de la Rosa.

Growth in the eurozone strengthened far beyond expectations in the first quarter of 2016, but inflation remained very low and a source of concern.

Britain's state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday said net losses more than doubled in the first quarter owing to an exceptional payment back to the government.

Oil prices eased slightly in Asia Friday after hitting a series of new highs this week, bolstered by a weak dollar.

Brazil's central bank on Wednesday opted to hold its benchmark interest rate at 14.25 percent for a sixth consecutive time, amid stubbornly high inflation and political uncertainty.

The bank, which makes rate decisions eight times a year, has held its key Selic rate steady since the last of seven consecutive hikes in July 2015.

The speaker of Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly said Wednesday the legislature cannot pay lawmakers or employees because the government has failed to allocate its budget.

Leading opposition figure Henry Ramos Allup told journalists the legislature has run out of money, the latest victim of the crisis gripping the recession-racked country.

Facebook on Wednesday fielded a plan to tighten Mark Zuckerberg's grip on the helm as the booming social network reported stellar profit.

Oil prices dipped in Asia Thursday as traders took profits after crude costs hit a new high for the year in response to falling US production.

Prices surged to 2016 peaks for the second straight day Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but appeared less concerned about global conditions, opening the door a crack to a rate hike in June.