Beijing, China – Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced a $60 billion package of aid, investment and loans to Africa, against a backdrop of growing concern about rising debt distress on the continent.

India – Google retains only a slight lead over Facebook in the competition for digital ad dollars in the crucial India market, sources familiar with the figures say, even though the search giant has been in the country far longer and has avoided the controversies that have dogged its rival.

South Korea – Behind a blue wall that seals a former highway tunnel stretches a massive indoor farm bathed in rose-tinted light.

Fruits and vegetables grow hydroponically — with no soil — in vertically stacked layers inside, illuminated by neon-pink LEDs instead of sunlight.

Saudi Arabia – A senior aide to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has dropped further hints that the country is planning to turn its Gulf rival Qatar into an island by digging a canal that will cut the peninsula off from the mainland.

Japan – Japanese manufacturers have been introducing new, clear drinks that taste like unhealthy drinks consumers love, perhaps prefiguring a growing trend in America.

RIO DE JANEIRO  – A massive fire raced through Brazil’s 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, probably destroying its collection of more than 20 million items, ranging from archeological finds to historical memorabilia.

Interest in salary transparency isn’t new, but the motivation for it is evolving.

• A new sedan and limousine modeled after the state-vehicles used by Russian President Vladimir Putin were unveiled at the Moscow Auto Show Wednesday.
• The Aurus Senat is a luxury line of armored sedans and limousines developed in conjunction with a Russia state-sponsored research institute agency.
• The Aurus Senat sedan and the Aurus Senat limousine show striking similarities to the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard, Chrysler 300, and Rolls-Royce Phantom.

ExxonMobil found oil off Guyana’s coast in 2015, and believes the reserves are big. Conservative estimates project to about 4 billion barrels. Some experts think there’s more to be found in the country’s 6.6 million-acre Starbroek Block.

India’s economy is racing ahead, shrugging off global trade tensions and a sharp fall in its currency.