
China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin hit back at US global economic dominance on Friday as they took the stage together at Russia's showcase business forum.

The presidents of Argentina and Brazil said on Thursday that an agreement is imminent on a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina's Mauricio Macri expressed confidence that the deal would soon be signed as they met in Buenos Aires for talks.

The Argentine Supreme Court ruled against a legal claim by mining companies Barrick Gold Corp and Minera Argentina Gold arguing that Argentina's Glacier Law was unconstitutional. The decision was praised by environmentalists and marked a setback for one of the world's biggest gold miners.

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, admitted on Wednesday that it had underestimated the “incredibly complicated situation” of the Argentine economy and also that taming inflation had taken much longer than originally expected.

Brazil and Argentina have started discussing a reduction in the common external tariff (TEC) of the Mercosur trade block, sources in both governments revealed on Wednesday, as their market-friendly presidents look to boost economic growth.

Sodexo has extended its contracts with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to provide a range of support services to the UK’s Armed Forces in Cyprus and the Falkland Islands for a further three years.

Brazilian banks are chalking up “excessive” profits, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said, adding that the country needs an injection of competition to end what he called the cartels that dominate many of its major sectors.

The Trump administration clamped down on US tourist visits to Cuba on Tuesday, aiming to cut the flow of dollars to a country that Washington accuses of helping prop up Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The construction industry in Argentina contracted 7.5% last April, the eighth consecutive month, with an overall drop of 10.3% in the first four months of the year. According to the country's stats office Indec, the Indicator of Construction Activity, during April fell 0.3% from March.

Argentina’s industrial output fell 8.8% in April compared with the same month a year ago, official data showed on Wednesday, marking 12 straight months of production losses as the economy struggles with recession and rapidly-rising consumer prices.