![While the Trump administration insists that sanctions do not interfere with the flow of humanitarian goods,?critics in Iran and outside of it are pushing back on Washington's narrative [File: Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/360288199-1.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Critics say latest US sanctions will further hobble Iran’s ability to buy food and medicine as it battles pandemic.
EconomyWith
![Voting is a physical act that requires energy that someone experiencing depression may not have [File: Daniel Acker/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Voters-1.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
People experiencing signs of depression are less likely to vote and participate in the political process.
![The New York Stock Exchange opened in the positive on Friday after a see-saw week of highs and lows as the White House and Democrats fail to agree on passing a critical stimulus package [File: Mike Segar/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/trader.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Investors are still hopeful the White House and Congress can reach a deal on more virus aid.
![People look at job listings posted on a light pole in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the government has recently halved the amount of its monthly cash transfers to Brazil's poor [File: Amanda Perobelli/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/jobbrazil.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Brazil’s poor are struggling to cope as the government halves pandemic aid and food prices soar.
![A doorman looks out from an empty hotel lobby in Herald Square in Manhattan during the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, New York, United States [File: Mike Segar/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/hotelworker.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
More than 200 of New York’s roughly 700 hotels are closed, at least temporarily.
![TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, has been caught in a firestorm globally due to security and privacy concerns [File: Lionel Bonacenture/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/63dacc07164e49ffae040419420ebfd9_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Chinese social media app was given a ‘final notice’ over ‘obscenity’ concerns by authorities in July.
![The British economy - which shrank by more than any other Group of Seven nation in the April-June period - remains 9.2 percent smaller than its pre-pandemic level [File: Jason Alden/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/365180064.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Finance minister Rishi Sunak is due to announce a plan to support jobs that may be affected by new coronavirus measures.
![Stocks in Asia were headed for their highest levels since March 2018 [File: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-10-02T001645Z_1591946919_RC20AJ99E7XR_RTRMADP_3_JAPAN-STOCKS-TSE.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Widening lead by Democratic challenger to Trump in US election lowers risk of a contested result and market volatility.
![An estimated 13 million Chinese people made railway trips on October 1, the start of the Golden Week holiday, the highest for a single day since the coronavirus pandemic began [File: Thomas Peter/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-10-02T054525Z_534173416_RC25AJ9AF1VY_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-CHINA-TRAVEL.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The country’s services sector continues its rebound from the depths of coronavirus lockdowns as companies also add jobs.
![Protesters in Medan threw rocks at riot police as rallies against the omnibus bill turned ugly [Tonggo Simangunsong/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omnibus-Law-Al-Jazeera-11.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Clashes with police and many arrested amid rising opposition to law that is supposed to boost investment.
![The 1MDB scandal triggered mass protests in Malaysia and led to the fall of Najib's government in May 2018 [File: Sadiq Asyraf/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/6bac9396812d4ec19afd17b962c4857f_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Elliot Broidy was allegedly hired by Malaysian fugitive financier Jho Low to try and get 1MDB probe dropped.
![Ant, China’s biggest payments company, is waiting for approval from Hong Kong for its listing [File: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/351463926.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Chinese digital payments firm controlled by Jack Ma is preparing for potentially the world’s biggest stock listing.
![The WTO - its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, pictured - was created in 1995 out of the former General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and has never had a woman director-general or national from Africa as its leader [File: Denis Balibouse/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WTO.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
South Korea’s trade minister and a Harvard-trained former Nigerian finance minister are finalists for director-general.
A new report by Swiss bank UBS says world’s richest elite have done ‘extremely well’ during the crisis.