China’s imports from North Korea fell 37.9 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the seventh consecutive month of decline, the customs office said Friday. China-U.S. ties have been strained by President Donald Trump’s criticism of China’s trade practices and by demands that Beijing do more to pressure North …
The wildfires burning through Northern California are sending visitors packing, threatening the $2 billion-plus spent annually by tourists on wine tours, fine food, limousine rides and much more, business leaders said. At the Inn on First bed and breakfast in the famous wine town of Napa, co-owner Jamie Cherry was …
The government of Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said Thursday that it will request special powers to legislate economic policies from the opposition-ruled Congress, after growth slowed sharply during his first year in office. During a presentation in Congress, Prime Minister Mercedes Araoz said her cabinet wants to legislate policies …
The European Union’s Brexit negotiator said Thursday that that little progress was made with the U.K. in a fifth round of talks on the country’s departure from the EU in 2019, and that he cannot yet recommend broadening negotiations to include trade. Michel Barnier said that despite the “constructive …
China has a new richest man, according to the annual Hurun rich list of the country’s top movers and shakers. Xu Jiayin, the chairman of developer China Evergrande Group, has seized top spot – beating out more familiar faces such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Jack Ma and rival property …
The Trump administration says coal is back and nuclear energy is cool. Not at the expense of natural gas, wind and solar, insists an unusual coalition of business and environmental groups. Dow Chemical, Koch Industries and U.S. Steel Corp. are standing with environmentalists in opposing an Energy Department plan that …
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a string of energy, military and other deals with Morocco during a North Africa tour. Medvedev met Wednesday with Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani and presided at a signing ceremony for 11 bilateral agreements. The agreements cover cooperation in areas …
To better incorporate all of the brands it now owns, the storied Coach company of New York is changing its name to Tapestry. The luxury goods company that came to prominence in the “Mad Men” era now owns brands like Stuart Weitzman and Kate Spade & Co. as well. …
South Sudan’s president was a no-show for the nation’s first international oil conference, a gathering that also failed to attract prospective investors from the biggest global energy companies. The turnout showed only smaller companies are risking bets on the oil sector of the world’s youngest country. South Sudan has 3.5 …
Restaurant Veselka has made New Yorkers fall in love with Ukrainian cuisine. Featured in movies and frequented by celebrities, the diner is also a staple for locals. In a city that’s tough on restaurants, Veselka’s longevity is legendary. VOA’s Iuliia larmolenko has the story. …
Worried California vintners surveyed the damage to their vineyards and wineries Tuesday as wildfires sweep through counties whose famous names have become synonymous with fine food and drink. At the Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma County, workers were not sure the grapes above the winery survived a second night of fires …
Mexico’s richest man, telecom magnate Carlos Slim, said Tuesday that reconstruction from two destructive earthquakes last month will create jobs and spur growth and announced that more than $100 million has been raised for relief efforts. Tens of thousands of homes and apartments were destroyed and will have to be …
As the Indian capital, New Delhi, battles deadly air pollution, it might be missing the customary fireworks during the Hindu festival of lights, following a temporary ban imposed by the Supreme Court on the sale of firecrackers The order has raised a firestorm in the city of about 18 …
Global unemployment this year stands at more than 201 million, an increase of 3.4 million compared to 2016, says the International Labor Organization. The ILO says the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, plays a crucial role in creating decent jobs around the world. The ILO study (World Employment …
American Richard H. Thaler was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for Economics — officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The award committee said Thaler was chosen “for his contributions to behavioral economics.” “By exploring the consequences of limited rationality, social preferences, and lack …
On a recent morning in Yutian, a dusty town bisected by the highway that connects Beijing to the sea, Su Meiquan strolled into a dealership packed with hulking trucks and prepared to drive off with a brand new rig. After years of driving a diesel truck for a trucking company, …
Ants and beetles in the kitchen? Normally that’d close down a restaurant immediately, but for a unique eatery in Bangkok, bugs in the beef ragu and pests in the pesto are the business plan. Tucking into insects is nothing new in Thailand, where street vendors pushing carts of fried …
Born and raised in this Texas Gulf Coast beach town, James Wheeler Jr. finds himself sawing plywood and hanging sheet rock at a time when he would normally be leading deep-sea fishing excursions, trying to hook tuna or Spanish mackerel by the cooler-full. Since Hurricane Harvey came through Port …
Sudan’s currency strengthened to 18.5 pounds to the dollar from 20.2 on the black market on Sunday, the first day of business since the United States lifted trade sanctions, raising a glimmer of hope for recovery in the war-torn country. The decision to suspend 20-year sanctions and lift a trade …
Donald Trump boasts of making great deals, but a financial report filed with the British government shows he has lost millions of dollars for three years running on a couple of his more recent big investments: his Scottish golf resorts. A report from Britain’s Companies House released late Friday shows …
The decline of the world’s industrialized honeybees has been well documented. A combination of pesticides and parasites have led to whole bee colonies dying off, a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder. Now, it turns out the pesticides that are hurting the bees are also turning up in the world’s honey …
Ira Gerhart finally found a place last year to fulfill his yearslong dream of opening a brewery: a 1923 Presbyterian church. It was cheap, charming and just blocks from downtown Youngstown. But soon after Gerhart announced his plans, residents and a minister at a Baptist church just a block away …
Home to half the world’s Mountain gorilla and 50 percent of world bird species, conservation tourism marketing remains a challenge for Uganda. In a first ever conservation Finance Giants Forum, Uganda also known as the Pearl of Africa, Friday, got an opportunity to market its beauty in a bid to …
Two back-to-back hurricanes in the continental U.S. displaced more workers than first thought resulting in a net loss of 33 thousand jobs in September. But the job losses seem to have had little effect on the national unemployment rate, which fell to 4.2 percent the lowest since 2001. Mil Arcega …
Venezuelans already struggling to find food, medicine and other basic necessities have a new shortage to worry about: cash. Troubling shortfalls of Venezuelan bolivars are forcing many in this distressed South American nation to form long lines outside banks several times a week to withdraw what little cash is …
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned on Friday that the Trump administration was making “highly dangerous demands” in the North American Free Trade Agreement modernization talks that could erode U.S. business support and torpedo the negotiations. John Murphy, the chamber’s senior vice president for international policy, said the largest U.S. …