Officials in Charlottesville, Virginia, have voted to divest the city’s operating budget investments from any entity involved in the production of fossil fuels or weapons. WVIR-TV reports the City Council voted 4-1 last week to complete those divestments within the next 30 days. Supporters of divestment argued that …
Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is stepping up his campaign to be Britain’s next prime minister by challenging the European Union over Brexit terms. Johnson told the Sunday Times he would refuse to pay the agreed-upon 39 billion-pound ($50 billion) divorce settlement unless the EU offers Britain a better withdrawal …
Rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China have sparked worries about the 17 exotic-sounding rare earth minerals needed for high-tech products like robotics, drones and electric cars. China recently raised tariffs to 25% on rare earth exports to the U.S. and has threatened to halt exports altogether after …
Financial leaders of the Group of 20 gathered Saturday to brainstorm ways to adapt global finance to an age of trade turmoil and digital disruptions. The central bank governors and other financial regulators meeting in this southern Japanese port city also flagged risks from upsets to the global economy as …
One down, still others to go. President Donald Trump claimed a victory after Washington and Mexico agreed on measures to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States. Trump called off plans to impose a 5% tax on Mexican exports, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking to …
FedEx Corp. Friday decided not to renew its contract with Amazon.com Inc. for U.S. cargo delivery through FedEx Express, the unit that delivers packages on planes, a move that reflects the broader trend of the e-commerce company moving services in-house. Amazon has been building out its own delivery network of …
Cindy Saine at the State Department contributed to this report. U.S. President Donald Trump said late Friday that the United States and Mexico had reached a deal on migration to avert tariffs. “I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America has reached a signed agreement …
Uber is parting ways with two of its top executives less than a month after the company’s rocky stock market debut. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told employees in an email Friday that he plans to be more involved in day-to-day operations now that the initial public offering of stock has passed. …
With worries rising about trade wars and slower global growth, Friday’s jobs figures for May could serve as a reminder that the U.S. economy is still mostly in good shape. Or, an unexpectedly weak employment report could intensify concerns that after a healthy first quarter, the U.S. economy is …
Italian-U.S. carmaker Fiat Chrysler on Thursday pulled the plug on its proposed merger with Renault, saying negotiations had become “unreasonable” because of political resistance in Paris. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA, had stunned the markets last week with a proposed “merger of equals” with the French group that would …
The U.S. economy could be weakened by escalating trade wars or a sudden downturn in global financial markets, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns. In an annual review of the U.S. economy, the IMF said it was on a 2.6 percent growth track this year, greater than the 2.3 percent …
Liz Hung supports a lot of the imaginative concepts being discussed to make Vietnam “greener” economically and in terms of urban planning. Consider traffic lights. Hung described how government authorities could collect smartphone data to see which streets are crowded, and then calibrate the stoplights to optimize traffic flow. …
U.S. productivity grew at a strong 3.4% rate in the January-March quarter, the best showing in more than four years, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was an encouraging sign that productivity may finally be improving after a long stretch of weakness. The first quarter gain was more than …
This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. WASHINGTON —The World Bank says Iran is likely to experience an even worse recession this year than previously thought, as U.S. sanctions largely choke off oil exports that have been Tehran’s main revenue source. In its latest Global Economic Prospects report published Wednesday, …
Vietnam is likely to make concessions to the United States so it can escape a U.S. watch list of possible currency manipulators and head off a hit to its fast-growing economy led by exchange rate-sensitive exports, analysts who follow the country say. The Southeast Asian country, they forecast, will probably …
The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday recommended urgent steps to boost domestic production of rare earths and other critical minerals, warning that a halt in Chinese or Russian exports could cause “significant shocks” in global supply chains. The report includes 61 specific recommendations — including low-interest loans and “Buy American” …
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is auditing Uber Technologies’s taxes for 2013 and 2014 and the ride-hailing company expects unrecognized tax benefits to be reduced within the next year by at least $141 million. In its full quarterly report on Tuesday, Uber said various state and foreign tax authorities were …
Michael Bowman contributed to this report. Mexico warned Monday that President Donald Trump’s threatened new tariff on its exports to the United States would hurt both countries’ economies and cause even more Central American migrants to travel through Mexico to reach the United States. At the start of talks in …
U.S. and Mexican officials warn that raising tariffs on Mexican goods to get Mexico to stem the influx of Central American migrants on the way to the U.S. border would hurt the economics of both countries. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to apply tariffs of 5% on all Mexican …
The United States is again calling on European allies to be careful of what it says are security risks posed by Chinese telecommunication company Huawei, as countries build out their 5G networks. “We’ve been clear: our ask is that our allies and our partners and our friends don’t do anything that …
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reiterated on Sunday the need for oil independence as his government said it would tender six construction contracts in June for a planned oil refinery in the southern state of Tabasco. Tensions between Mexico and the United States have been running high in recent …
Joyce Huang contributed to this report. China says Washington bears the “sole and entire responsibility” for the breakdown in trade talks earlier this month and that Beijing won’t back down on matters of principle. In a defiant rebuttal of who is to blame, China released a white paper Sunday, arguing …
The Trump administration had taken steps in recent weeks to work with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to address concerns about the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement — and then came the threat of a new tariff. President Donald Trump said this past week that he would put a 5% tariff …
VOA News Center associate producer Jesusemen Oni contributed reporting from Washington. Mexico’s president suggested Saturday that his country could clamp down on migration, and he said he thought the United States was ready to discuss its threatened use of tariffs as a means to combat illegal migration from Central America. President Andres Manuel Lopez …
The Trump administration is committed to making fossil fuels cleaner rather than imposing “draconian” regulations on coal and oil, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Thursday at an energy conference in Salt Lake City. Perry previously said the administration wants to spend $500 million next year on fossil fuel research …
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it had not pressured Venezuela to release economic indicators after years of silence, while two sources said the country’s surprise data release this week was due to pressure from China. The central bank on Tuesday unexpectedly released data confirming Venezuela is suffering hyperinflation …