U.S. and European Sanctions Take Aim at Putin’s Economic Efforts

WASHINGTON — The United States and the European Union dealt a blow on Friday to Russian efforts to develop future oil sources in the Arctic and elsewhere, broadening and deepening the range of sanctions imposed on Moscow in retaliation for its intervention in Ukraine despite the potential cost to Western firms like Exxon Mobil and BP.

Hopes pinned on private sector as Libya economy slumps

Tripoli (AFP) - Small businesses are prospering in Libya's major cities even as the economy at large is being throttled because of security problems and industrial action which has shrunk lifeline oil revenues.

U.S. May Join Germany of 1933 in Pantheon of Defaults

Reneging on its debt obligations would make the U.S. the first major Western government to default since Nazi Germany 80 years ago.

Syria says sanctions have cost country $4 billion

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria's oil minister blamed international sanctions Wednesday for shortages of cooking gas and other basic goods, saying the measures have bled $4 billion from the nation's ailing economy.