Lawmakers in the United States have voted to raise the government's borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion, narrowly avoiding a catastrophic default. The Senate passed the measure 50-49. The new debt ceiling will give the US government enough space to borrow until 2023, after the midterm elections. Focus in Washington will now return to whether President Joe Biden can get his $1.75 trillion social spending plan, "Build Back Better", passed by the end of the year.

Costa Rican voters are choosing the country's next president amid frustration over corruption scandals, the COVID-19 pandemic and poor economic conditions. Much of the electorate remains undecided.

State governors in Nigeria are targeting a 200 per cent increase in the country’s aggregate tax revenue through a collaboration with the Joint Tax Board on an initiative called Data for Tax.

Swiss authorities on Thursday extradited a German lawyer sought by Germany on account of being a key leader of a massive tax fraud scheme called "Cum-Ex." Hanno Berger, 71, was handed over to German police officials in the city of Konstanz in southern Germany, prosecutors based in Frankfurt said.

A carbon tax is set to be introduced in January in the hope companies will switch to climate-friendly energy sources. But businesses are already complaining about costs while they are still struggling from the pandemic.

Just as Ghana's small business owners begin to shift from cash-based sales, many believe a proposed electronic payments tax, locally known as the 'e-levy', will price them out of the digital economy.

The Pakistani leader continues to assert that the US is behind an attempt to remove him. Meanwhile, a Pakistani general said his country should expand ties with Washington.

Ahead of the first round of France's presidential election on Sunday, the death of Jeremy Cohen, a French Jewish man, is making headlines. A viral video shows Cohen being hit by a tram as he escaped a group of attackers. The tragedy is now stirring political controversy, since it was because of a tweet by far-right presidential hopeful Éric Zemmour that the case got propelled to the headlines. Plus, FRANCE 24 attends far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon's very modern hologram rally, as well as Communist challenger Fabien Roussel's more traditional "apéritifs".

President Joe Biden has tested negative after coming into recent contact with Pelosi. A new WHO analysis has suggested 800 million people in Africa have had COVID-19.

Pakistan's lawmakers have voted to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan from office in a vote of no confidence. The nuclear-armed Islamic nation has been in political turmoil for weeks.

And so begins a mad dash to the finish in the French presidential race. After a surprisingly sluggish start to the campaign, the first round served up the predicted outcome but also its fair share of surprises. The April 24 runoff is incumbent Emmanuel Macron's to lose, say the pollsters. But in a rematch of the 2017 second round, the centrist incumbent has his weaknesses that the far-right's Marine Le Pen astutely exploited in a campaign where she has been out pounding the flesh while Macron has been attending summits.

The US President and his wife reported having paid $150,439 in taxes for 2021. This is equivalent to a tax rate of 24.6%. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband earned over $1.6 million during the same period.