Swiss firms from food and beverage giant Nestle to banking groups UBS and Credit Suisse pledged new goals on Tuesday for supporting and promoting women. While Switzerland has Europe’s second-highest proportion of women in the workforce, it trails global standards on gender diversity in boardrooms and in management positions. Consultancies …
More developing countries urgently need insurance to cushion their farmers against weather extremes that can worsen poverty, but it is no magic bullet to ward off the escalating impacts of climate change, experts say. The burning question of how to stop drought becoming a major crisis — especially in Africa …
As China’s economy slows to growth rates not seen in more than a quarter of century, the country’s Communist Party rulers are under increasing pressure to create jobs. Millions enter the workforce each year, and as China tries to reduce overcapacity in steel and coal industries a growing number …
In Malawi, the head of the former ruling party is expected in court Tuesday on allegations he fraudulently granted citizenship documents to more than 50 foreigners in 2013 when he was minister of home affairs. Uladi Mussa surrendered himself Monday at the office of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, or ACB, in …
It may seem odd that the world’s largest land mammal would be afraid of bees, but Kenya-based research and conservation group Save the Elephants has used the elephants’ fear of being stung around the eyes, mouth and trunk to deter them from crop-raiding. It is doing this through “beehive fences,” …
Scientists and engineers are constantly looking for more efficient ways to harvest energy from sustainable sources, such as the sun, wind, ocean waves and river flows. Researchers from Brown University have teamed up with a company from Rhode Island to build an innovative power generator suitable for slow-flowing rivers and …
Keeping the Chinese economy steaming ahead is a priority for China’s Communist Party leaders. That issue and others will be topics in the coming days when China hosts high-level political meetings in Beijing. To better understand some of the challenges the world’s second-largest economy faces, VOA’s Bill Ide visited Shenyang, …
China says its defense budget will increase by about 7 percent this year, marking the second year in a row China has kept its military spending to a single digit percentage increase. The exact number for defense spending in 2017 will be released Sunday when parliament begins its annual session. …
Demand for gasoline in the United States, which accounts for a tenth of global oil consumption, is expected to peak next year as engines become more efficient, WoodMackenzie analysts said. Global demand for gasoline, which accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s oil consumption, is set to peak …
South Korean companies Friday bore the brunt of Chinese anger over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system outside Seoul, as shares tumbled after media reports of Beijing tour operators being ordered to stop selling trips to the country. Cosmetics makers, retailers, automakers and airlines were among the biggest …
Puffing on a cigar at Cuba’s annual Habanos cigar festival, American aficionado Paul Segal said he would buy as many boxes of cigars as he could carry home in case U.S. President Donald Trump tightens regulations on visitors to the communist-run island again. Segal, who writes a cigar blog called …
China’s government says it will support the World Trade Organization, arguing that an “open and unbiased” trading system benefits global economic growth and is in everyone’s interest. Beijing’s comments come just a day after the Trump administration said it might not comply with WTO rulings it judged to violate American …
Following a drastic decline in his small business after India scrapped 86 percent of its currency in November, fruit hawker Khubi Ram switched to selling vegetables, which are more of an essential household purchase. “My two helpers headed back to their villages, they had no money. I had to somehow …
Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson, which President Donald Trump singled out Tuesday when discussing foreign trade barriers, warned earlier this year against responding to such restrictions by imposing higher American tariffs. Trump said in his speech to Congress that executives from Harley-Davidson told him they have trouble selling motorcycles outside of …
Chilean police raided the offices of Brazil’s Odebrecht in capital Santiago on Wednesday, as part of a widening investigation into bribes paid by the conglomerate on construction projects across Latin America. A Chilean prosecutor will travel to Brasilia this month to work with Brazilian colleagues questioning Odebrecht executives, national public …
Here’s a look at how the U.S. government’s budget is drawn up and approved: — The process starts with the submission of the president’s annual budget request to Congress. Traditionally, this is done on the first Monday in February. The president’s budget request details the administration’s position on a full …
Vladimir Jehlicka and his business partners spent 25 years building up their Czech machinery firm before deciding to call it a day. However, they faced a problem that is growing as the first generation of post-communist entrepreneurs nears retirement. Their children weren’t interested in running the shop but equally Jehlicka …
Greece and its lenders resumed a long-stalled review of its bailout Tuesday, with the government in Athens braced to commit to yet more austerity in exchange for the funds the country needs to remain solvent. The review has dragged on for months, partly because of a rift between the European …
Pakistan’s decision to close the border with Afghanistan was a largely symbolic act aimed at forcing its neighbor to take action against extremist groups blamed for fomenting cross-border terror attacks. It’s a hard reality for the travelers and traders trapped for nearly two weeks on both sides of the dusty …
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross was sworn in as U.S. commerce secretary on Tuesday after helping shape Republican President Donald Trump’s opposition to multilateral trade deals. Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to Ross, 79, a day after the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the corporate turnaround expert’s …
South Korean special prosecutors said they would indict Samsung’s de facto chief Tuesday on bribery, embezzlement and other charges linked to a political scandal that has toppled President Park Geun-hye. The planned indictment of Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee is a huge hit for the largest and most …
Sales of Cuba’s legendary cigars rose 5 percent last year to $445 million, defying stagnation in the global luxury goods market, manufacturer Habanos S.A. said on Monday at the opening of the Caribbean island’s annual cigar festival. Habanos, which makes brands including Cohiba, Monte Cristo and Romeo y Julieta, said …
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross easily won confirmation as U.S. commerce secretary on Monday, clearing President Donald Trump’s top trade official to start work on renegotiating trade relationships with China and Mexico. The U.S. Senate voted 72-27 to confirm the 79-year-old corporate turnaround expert’s nomination, with strong support from Democrats. Ross …
In an effort to save on labor costs and increase efficiency, fast-food chain Wendy’s will install self-ordering kiosks in about 1,000 of its locations in the United States. According to David Trimm, a spokesman for the Ohio-based company, franchises that want the kiosks will, on average, install three of them, …
The American mining company Freeport-McMoRan has brought the world’s biggest gold mine, in the Indonesian province of West Papua, to a standstill. The corporation is butting heads with the Indonesian government over protectionist mining regulations. And now that Freeport has started to dismiss tens of thousands of workers, the local …
President Donald Trump’s administration will begin rolling back Obama-era environmental regulations in an “aggressive way” as soon as next week, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Saturday — adding that he understood why some Americans wanted to see his agency eliminated. “I think there are some regulations that …