Brussels / AFP The European Union on Thursday cleared a mobile phone tie-up between Hong Kong’s Hutchison and Russia’s VimpelCom in Italy after they agreed to sell some of the business to boost competition. Hutchison, owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, and VimpelCom agreed last year to merge their 3 Italia and Wind networks but the European Commission …

  Washington / AFP The International Monetary Fund said that it could remove its unprecedented 2013 censure of Argentina in November after the country improved its reporting of key economic statistics. The IMF Executive Board said that Buenos Aires had made “extraordinary efforts and important progress” in improving the accuracy of growth and inflation data that they are required to …

  Miami / AFP Some 8,000 heads of state, policymakers and environmentalists convene in Hawaii this week for the world’s largest gathering aimed at forging a path forward on the planet’s toughest conservation problems. US President Barack Obama is expected to be among the world leaders in Honolulu as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) opens its …