Panama’s business community on Tuesday cheered the Central American country’s decision to establish full diplomatic ties with China and ditch Taiwan, hoping to deepen links with a key customer of the nation’s shipping canal. Although there was regret at the cost to Taiwan, an ally of various Central American nations, …
Mexico’s ancient civilizations cultivated crops such as maize, tomatoes and chilies for thousands of years before the Spanish conquerors arrived — and now those native plants could hold the key to sustainable food production as climate change bites, said a leading ecologist. José Sarukhán Kermez, who helped set up Mexico’s …
The World Bank on Tuesday approved a $500 million loan to support Tunisia’s budget, a government official for the North African country said on Tuesday. The funding followed the release by the International Monetary Fund of a delayed $320-million tranche of Tunisia’s IMF loan, after the government agreed to speed …
The United States is weighing imposing sanctions on countries that do business with North Korea and looking for ways to revive strained relations with Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday. At a committee hearing, he also defended President Donald Trump’s plans for steep reductions in U.S. …
Market demand for the dirtiest of fossil fuels is plummeting worldwide, according to industry data published Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump has made reviving the long-struggling U.S. coal mines the bedrock of his administration’s energy policy. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy shows global coal production fell by …
The Trump administration is proposing to curb the authority of the consumer finance watchdog created following the economic crisis as it drives toward easing restrictions on banks and financial institutions. The Treasury Department issued Monday the first part of a review that was ordered by President Donald Trump in one …
Britain’s descent into political crisis just days before Brexit talks begin has sapped confidence among business leaders and infuriated bosses who were already grappling with the fallout from the vote to leave the EU. The failure by Prime Minister Theresa May to win a parliamentary majority in last week’s election …
The Trump administration has a backup plan to keep the government from defaulting on its financial obligations even if Congress misses an August deadline to raise the debt limit, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a congressional panel Monday. Mnuchin had previously set an August deadline for the federal government to …
General Electric says Jeff Immelt is stepping down as CEO. John Flannery, president and CEO of the conglomerate’s health care unit, will take over the post in August. The 61-year-old Immelt will stay on as chairman until his retirement from the position at the end of the year, with …
The board of Uber was meeting Sunday to consider placing the CEO of the ride-hailing company on leave, according The New York Times and other news outlets. The Times reported that three people with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that Uber’s board was meeting to consider recommendations from …
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is likely to impose a new sugar trade deal with Mexico even if final revisions to it fail to win support from the U.S. industry, trade lawyers and experts say. After announcing a deal this week that would dramatically cut the amount of refined sugar …
French cosmetics and luxury goods group L’Oreal has started exclusive talks to sell The Body Shop business to Brazilian makeup company Natura Cosmeticos in a possible 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) deal. Earlier this year, L’Oreal had announced it was reviewing its strategy for The Body Shop, which it bought …
Thanks to an explosion of bike share apps and providers, China is rediscovering its love of bicycles. In cities across the country and in the capital of Beijing, a colorful bike-share revolution is taking over on the streets, helping ease traffic snarls and keeping the air cleaner. It is also …
Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand sought to distance itself from a Chinese manufacturer that has come under scrutiny after activists investigating labor conditions there were detained, saying the company last made its products three months ago. In a statement released Wednesday, the brand’s president, Abigail Klem, said Ivanka Trump shoes, which …
Days before the first supertanker carrying 140,000 tons of Chinese-bound crude oil arrived in Myanmar’s Kyauk Pyu port, local officials confiscated Nyein Aye’s fishing nets. The 36-year-old fisherman was among hundreds banned from fishing a stretch of water near the entry point for a pipeline that pumps oil 770 kilometers …
Indonesia, the world’s biggest archipelago has called for the United Nations to establish illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, known under its acronym of IUUF, as a transnational crime. The proposal has the support of the president of the U.N. General Assembly but there’s still a long way to go before …
The U.S. job market is getting stronger, according to Labor Department data published Thursday. The number of Americans signing up for unemployment assistance fell by 10,000, to a nationwide total of 245,000. Experts say readings below 300,000 indicate a healthy job market, where layoffs are scarce and employers are trying …
From a Peruvian trout farm manager to the head of an Indonesian meatball company, a list of 500 women entrepreneurs in emerging markets was launched Thursday to challenge the stereotype of a typical company boss and inspire women globally. The “Foundation 500” list features the portraits and careers of 500 …
It was almost sunset as fishermen guided their boats back onto the beach at Joal, Senegal, after a long day at sea. At first glance, it looks as though they’d collected a good day’s haul, but their nets were full of small sardinella, known locally as yaabooy. Fisherman Mamdou Lamine …
Peru joined Indonesia Wednesday as the only two countries worldwide to make their fishing boat tracking data available to the public. Such access will give conservationists, along with those who buy, sell and eat seafood, a clearer picture where their favorite dishes come from. Officials from both countries made their …
Both local, foreign industrial boats are blamed for Senegalese fishing industry’s continued problems. The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization says more than half of West Africa’s fisheries are dangerously depleted. …
President Donald Trump has chosen a regional banker as his nominee for a key government position in bank regulation. Trump announced late Monday he is naming Joseph Otting as comptroller of the currency, heading a Treasury Department agency that is the chief overseer for federally chartered banks. If confirmed …
A decade ago, the first inklings of the coming recession emerged as a housing bubble fueled by scant regulation, low interest rates and easy credit gradually began to crater and soon would take the rest of the economy along for the painful ride. By the time the Great Recession ended …
The U.S. and Mexican governments reached a new agreement to significantly shift their sugar trade mix, but U.S. sugar producers have failed to endorse the deal, leaving question marks over whether it could still sour broader trade relations. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the “agreement in principle” with Mexican …
Qatar’s currency came under pressure on Tuesday as Gulf Arab commercial banks started holding off on business with Qatari banks because of a diplomatic rift in the region. Banking sources said some banks from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain delayed letters of credit and other deals with …
Cities are pushing back on the possibility of losing millions of dollars in U.S. anti-terrorism grants under President Donald Trump’s spending plan — the third straight White House that has moved to cut the funding. The proposed budget would cut cash for the program from $605 million to nearly $449 …