A severe drought has forced the Australian government to dramatically reduce its economic growth forecasts. As Phil Mercer reports from Sydney, the so-called "Big Dry" is causing problems in the cities, but chaos in the farming sector.

Asian economies, led by China and India, were among the most dynamic in the world during 2006. Many economies expanded by well over than six percent, and with new capital flowing into stock markets and exports climbing, many Asian stock markets hit record highs. However, economists and financiers say 2007 will see a modest slowdown in growth and markets. Claudia Blume reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

'The UK's museums and galleries could, with greater capacity to expand and improve, allow this country to be a world leader in creativity and scholarship,' concluded LSE's Tony Travers in a report published today (Wednesday 13 December).

As the Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila begins his first democratically elected presidential term, he faces the challenge of radical reform in the mining sector, which has been marked by decades of corruption and mismanagement. Phuong Tran reports from VOA's Dakar bureau.

The United States and China have agreed to try to redress imbalances in their economic relationship,, which saw China achieve a $200 billion trade surplus last year. Top-level officials met for the past two days in Beijing, and the two countries reaffirmed their common interest in maintaining a stable economic relationship. But, as Roger Wilkison reports for VOA, they did not commit to a timetable, or specific pledges as to how they would deal with the strains that bedevil it.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time of goods and services purchased by households, and it remained unchanged for the month of November of 2006

The International Monetary Fund in Washington Thursday hosted a forum on the sustainability of the rapid economic gains being recorded by both India and China, whose economies have been big beneficiaries of globalization. VOA's Barry Wood reports.

The Ukrainian parliament has passed the final piece of legislation needed for the former Soviet bloc country to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Federal Reserve, under first-year Chairman Ben Bernanke, appears close to achieving the tricky maneuver of steering the U.S. economy to a slowdown that will keep inflation under control.

2007 is full of surprises for US and Canadian employees. Following the Manpower Inc.'s 2007 Employment Outlook Survey employee cutting will exceed hiring. All those employees who expected good changes in 2007 are disappointed.

"More than 100 million Indonesians are surviving on less than $2 a day," the World Bank said Thursday, warning that widespread poverty in the world's fourth largest country is preventing children from getting an education.