French carmaker Renault said Friday that half of its models will be electric or hybrid by 2022 and it’s investing heavily in “robo-vehicles” with increasing degrees of autonomy. A strategic plan released Friday aims to boost Renault annual revenues to 70 billion euros ($82.2 billion) by 2022 from 51 billion …
The U.S. economy lost 33,000 jobs in September, reflecting the impact of hurricanes hitting the states of Florida and Texas, as well as other areas. Friday’s report from the Labor Department also said the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2 percent, the lowest jobless figure since 2001. Economists said many …
Oil and natural gas operators began evacuating staff and halting production at U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms Thursday ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the second storm in as many months to rattle the Gulf Coast energy corridor. Nate, which has killed at least 10 people in Costa Rica and Nicaragua …
Transgender people are no longer protected by federal civil rights laws banning workplace discrimination, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday. In a memo to federal prosecutors, Sessions wrote that it is a matter of “law, not policy,” that the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not extend to gender identity. The …
Congressional Republicans moved to hasten an overhaul of the U.S. tax code on Thursday, while Federal Reserve officials warned in rare public remarks that President Donald Trump’s tax plan could lead to inflation and unsustainable federal debt. In a procedural step forward, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved by a …
At 52 years old, with two grown children, Newton Gunathileka thought he should be working less by this point. Instead he has never worked so hard — and earned so little. Gunathileka, from the Sri Lankan village of Periyakulam, in the North Western Puttalam District, is among hundreds of thousands …
Greece welcomed Wednesday a decision by senior archaeologists to conditionally permit a major tourism project in Athens, saying it cleared the way for the country to turn the site into one of Europe’s biggest coastal resorts. The 8-billion-euro ($9.4 billion) project to develop the disused Hellenikon airport site is a …
South Korea indicated Wednesday it was open to talks on revising a 2012 trade pact with the United States after initial differences that followed President Donald Trump’s threat to terminate the accord unless it was renegotiated. After a day of talks in Washington, South Korea’s trade ministry said in a …
Ford Motor Co.’s new CEO plans to cut $14 billion in costs, drop some car models and focus the company’s resources on trucks, SUVs and electric vehicles as part of a renewed effort to win over skeptical investors. Jim Hackett, who became Ford’s CEO in May, met with around 100 …
North Korea’s U.N. ambassador accused the United States on Tuesday of imposing “an economic blockade” on his country and deploying nuclear assets on the Korean Peninsula aimed at toppling leader Kim Jong Un. Ja Song Nam said the U.S. push for countries to implement what he called “illegal and unjustifiable” …
The recovery of eastern Caribbean islands hardest hit by recent hurricanes, including Dominica, Barbuda, Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla, could cost up to $1 billion, a senior U.N. official said Tuesday. “It’s going to be a large-scale rebuilding effort that will take time,” said Stephen O’Malley, …
The European Union insisted Tuesday that Brexit negotiations with Britain will not move on to the question of future relations until enough progress has been made on divorce issues, such as how much the country’s exit bill should be. Britain desperately wants talks to move on to future trade and …
After several years of struggling to make a living doing odd jobs in and around his village, 26-year-old Pushkar Singh came to New Delhi from the northern Uttarakhand state three months ago to hunt for a job. The high school dropout is willing to do anything — cook, work as a …
With more and more consumers shopping online, do brick-and-mortar stores stand a chance? At a pop-up shop in New York City, the future of retail is about embracing digital trends rather than resisting them. VOA reporter Tina Trinh explains. …
Even though gasoline-powered SUVs are what people are buying now, General Motors is betting that electric vehicles will be all the rage in the not-to-distant future. The Detroit automaker is promising two new EVs on Chevrolet Bolt underpinnings in the next 1 ½ years and more than 20 electric or …
U.S. factory activity surged to a more than 13-year high in September amid strong gains in new orders and raw material prices, pointing to underlying strength in the economy even as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are expected to dent growth in the third quarter. The economic outlook was also bolstered …
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a bid by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. to force customers who have filed proposed class-action lawsuits against the company to arbitrate their claims instead of bringing them to court. The justices left intact a lower court’s ruling that purchasers of certain …
Casinos in the world’s biggest casino hub of Macau extended a 14-month winning streak in September with revenue up 16.1 percent, priming for a bumper national holiday week, which is expected to see strong visitor traffic in the southern Chinese territory. Macau, a former Portuguese colony and now special administrative …
An official survey released Saturday said that China’s factory activity expanded in September at the fastest pace in five years, as the country’s vital manufacturing sector stepped up production to meet strong demand. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 52.4 in September, up from 51.7 in the previous …
Nearly all U.S. taxpayers say American tax law, which runs tens of thousands of pages, is an incredibly complicated, annoying mess. And there is no agreement on how to fix the problem. Republicans recently outlined a new effort they say will be clearer, fairer and helpful to the economy. Critics …
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has a message for the world’s central bankers: Don’t be Luddites. Addressing a conference in London on Friday, Lagarde said virtual currencies, which are created and exchanged without the involvement of banks or government, could in time be embraced by countries …
The government has fined U.S. tree-trimming company a record $95 million for knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants. U.S. prosecutors said the fine against Philadelphia-based Asplundh Tree Expert Co. was the largest criminal penalty ever imposed in an immigration case. Prosecutors said company managers deliberately looked the other way while supervisors knowingly …
Senegalese start-ups are testing a fledgling market for online music platforms in French-speaking West Africa, where interest in digital entertainment is growing but a lack of credit cards has prevented big players from making inroads. Long celebrated in Europe for their contribution to “world” music – with Mali’s Salif Keita, …
What’s your dream car to drive? Saudi women are asking that question after the kingdom announced that females would be granted licenses and be allowed to drive for the first time. An Arabic Twitter hashtag asking women what car they want to drive already had more than 22,000 responses on …
Equifax Inc promised to make it easier for consumers to control access to their credit records in the wake of the company’s massive breach after the top U.S. consumer financial watchdog called on the industry to introduce such a system. Equifax’s interim chief executive officer, Paulino do Rego Barros Jr., …
Saudi Arabia’s decision to lift its ban on women driving cars may help to restore sales growth in an auto market dented by the economic fallout from weak oil prices, handing an opportunity to importers of luxury cars and sport utility vehicles. Carmakers joined governments in welcoming the order by …