Kabul / AFP Gunmen on Thursday kidnapped at least 17 people travelling in civilian vehicles in northern Afghanistan, officials said, in the second group abduction within a week, underscoring the worsening security situation in the country. The passengers, all minority Hazaras, were pulled out of their vehicles in Sancharak district in Sar-e-Pul province and taken to a remote area …

  Bloomberg The world’s food-import bill is set to tumble to a seven-year low in 2016 as a decline in grain prices and lower freight rates more than compensate for increased imports, according to the United Nations. Countries around the globe will probably spend $986 million importing food this year, the first drop below $1 trillion since 2009, the UN’s …

  Bloomberg Brazil’s industrial output unexpectedly rose in April, adding to indications that Latin America’s largest economy is close to hitting bottom. Production rose 0.1 percent in April after a 1.4 percent jump in March, the national statistics agency said on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro. That surprised all but one of the 37 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, whose median …