Jim Zarroli

A weakening commodities market, hindered largely by the slowdown in China, has hurt economies in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has placed one breed of African lions on its endangered species list, a move aimed at discouraging hunting of the animals at a time when their numbers are dwindling.

A second breed of lion will be designated as threatened, the agency said today.

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The young man who caused a huge controversy by trying to jack up the price of a life-saving drug is in the news again. Martin Shkreli was arrested Thursday morning on charges of securities fraud.

The pharmaceuticals executive was arrested Thursday for securities fraud. Prosecutors say he took stock from a biotech firm he founded and used it to pay debts from other business deals.

Congress is getting closer to lifting a 40-year-old ban on oil exports, a move that could be a boon for U.S. oil producers hoping to expand into the global market.

President Obama and environmentalists oppose ending the ban, but Congressional leaders made it part of a $1.14 trillion spending bill, ...

The junk bond market rebounded a bit on Tuesday, but questions remain about what the recent rout means for the economy. Much of the downturn in high-yield debt has been in oil and natural gas.

The gloom deepened in the high-yield debt market on Monday, with bonds issued by dozens of companies losing ground, and concerns mounting about how long the rout will last.

Bonds issued by lower-rated companies such as Dynegy, Charter Communications, Chesapeake Energy and Oasis Petroleum have taken a tumble, as have ...

Newell Rubbermaid said today that it will acquire Jarden Corp., paying nearly $16 billion to acquire all of its stock and debt.

The deal brings together two companies with numerous familiar consumer brands under one roof, creating a single entity to be known as Newell Brands.

Started in ...

Two of America's oldest and most important industrial companies are tying the knot. DuPont and Dow Chemical plan to merge in a $130 billion deal that would create an agricultural and ...

The two chemical giants will temporarily form a $130 billion firm (called DowDuPont) before splitting into three separate companies: agriculture, materials and specialty products.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said Thursday he intends to sign an executive order blocking people on federal terrorism watch lists from buying guns in his state.

The order, which Malloy said requires federal approval, would be the first of its kind issued by any governor in the nation and ...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has imposed a $70 million civil fine on the parent company of Chrysler for failing to report safety data.

A statement from the agency said Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA, has acknowledged that it failed to turn in "early warning report" data about ...

Tompkins created The North Face and co-founded Esprit, but abandoned the business world to devote himself to environmental causes. He was 72.

Icelanders angry about government support of religion have come up with a way of making their unhappiness heard: They've formed their own religion, based on ancient Sumerian texts, and are promising to pass on any public funds they receive to their "congregation."

The group is a means of protesting Iceland's ...

The Federal Trade Commission has taken the first step toward blocking the proposed $6.3 billion merger of Staples and Office Depot, saying the deal would hurt competition in the market for office supplies sold to large corporations.

The commission filed an administrative complaint charging that the merger between Massachusetts-based ...

Oil prices fell to their lowest levels in seven years, after OPEC officials failed to agree Friday on how to address the global supply glut.

By midday Monday, Brent crude futures fell 5 percent to $40.68 a barrel, the lowest price since 2009. The U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate ...

A campaign by Japan's government to encourage the hiring of women for senior government and business positions as a way of stimulating the economy has fallen short of its goals.

The government's Gender Equity Bureau has lowered its target for women executives in government to 7 percent from 30 ...

The former president paused during his regular Sunday School class to relay some good news: His melanoma is gone. Carter's been undergoing radiation and drug treatment to battle the disease.

An international consortium that wants to build the world's biggest telescope on the Big Island of Hawaii says it's deciding what to do next, after the state's Supreme Court invalidated the project's building permit.

The consortium "will follow the process set forth by the state, as we always have. We ...

European regulators have launched an investigation into Luxembourg's tax treatment of McDonald's, saying the fast-food giant's franchise office has paid virtually no taxes on franchise profits it earned in Europe and Russia since 2009.

It's the latest in a series of investigations into corporate tax avoidance schemes by the ...