Middle Eastern countries should pursue fiscal policies to support growth and build broader tax bases to fund infrastructure projects and social spending, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. “A key priority is building broader and more equitable tax bases. All must pay their fair share, while the poor …
Venezuela is abandoning the most-overvalued of its two official foreign exchange rates, which had been used for state imports of food and medicine amid a worsening economic crisis. The move could potentially encourage businesses to import more and put more goods on store shelves and in pharmacies, but only …
The annual Washington Auto Show is not the biggest or the most important convention of the year, but it still attracts a lot of attention, from enthusiasts and potential customers to automotive industry professionals. Self-driving cars are still some time off, so the focus this year continues to be on …
The controversy over information gathered from GPS-enabled fitness devices and published online – in some cases highlighting possible activity at U.S. military bases in places like Syria and Afghanistan – could be just the start of an ever-growing problem in a world where more people and devices are connected to …
Tourism to Cuba, one of the few bright spots in its ailing economy, has slid in the wake of Hurricane Irma and the Trump administration’s tighter restrictions on travel to the Caribbean island, a Cuban tourism official said on Monday. Although the number of visitors rose nearly 20 percent in …
Amazon.com on Monday opened a rainforest-like office space in Seattle that it hopes will spark new ideas for employees. While cities across North America are seeking to host Seattle-based Amazon’s second headquarters, the world’s largest online retailer is still expanding its main campus. Company office towers and high-end eateries have …
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., one of the few Olympics sponsors signed up until 2028, said it wants to upgrade the technology that keeps the Games running and will study the Pyeongchang Games to help find ways to save future host countries money. “Pyeongchang will be a very important learning opportunity …
The European Union says that if U.S. President Donald Trump initiates unfair trade measures against the 28-nation bloc, it would stand ready “to react swiftly and appropriately.” In a weekend interview, Trump said he was annoyed with EU trade policy since he claims the U.S. cannot sufficiently export to …
Top trade representatives from Canada, Mexico and the United States are set to give an update Monday on the process of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, while people familiar with the process say a final deal could be pushed far beyond a March target date. The three nations …
Coming to a hotel or hospital near you may be a robot that makes deliveries. Companies are creating robots to help with the workload and make human workers more efficient. One such company is Silicon Valley-based Savioke. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee met a couple of its robots at a hotel in …
The U.S. military says it is evaluating its policies after a global map of fitness activity drew attention to possible security concerns regarding locations of overseas bases and soldier movements. Strava published its so-called heat map of user activity in November showing the routes millions of users walked, ran and …
Ingvar Kamprad, who founded Sweden’s IKEA furniture brand and transformed it into a worldwide business empire, has died at the age of 91. Kamprad died Saturday of pneumonia in the southern Swedish region of Smaland where he grew up on a farm, and with some modest financial help from his …
U.S. President Donald Trump touted the continued growth of the U.S. economy on Sunday, saying it is “better than it has been in many decades.” “Businesses are coming back to America like never before,” Trump said in a Twitter remark, a likely theme of his State of the Union address …
Projecting three-dimensional (3D) images in thin air, called holography, moved from science fiction to reality a long time ago. But this type of graphic display is not in wide use because the required equipment is still expensive. Scientists at the Brigham Young University have discovered a cheaper method of holography, …
Incorporating technology into learning can sometimes be a slippery slope toward computer distraction. That’s why some of the best new educational tools work in the real and the virtual world. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc said Sunday it would return about 46.3 billion yen ($425 million) of the virtual money it lost to hackers two days ago in one of the biggest-ever thefts of digital money. That amounts to nearly 90 percent of the 58 billion yen worth of NEM …
Officials trying to settle differences over how to update the North American Free Trade Agreement have made some progress and hope politicians decide the talks should continue, Steve Verheul, Canada’s chief negotiator, told Reuters on Saturday. The United States, Canada and Mexico are due to finish the sixth of seven …
In a surprise move, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reversed itself Friday and stopped the approval process for the proposed Pebble Mine copper and gold mine project in southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. “It is my judgment at this time that any mining projects in the region likely pose a …
President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy on trade aims to reverse decades of lopsided exchange by withdrawing from international trade deals, renegotiating others and raising tariffs on foreign-made goods destined for the U.S. But, in a connected global economy, analysts warn the U.S. could find itself increasingly isolated as other …
Although long replaced by more efficient types of engines, steam-powered machines still have a certain appeal, and not just for museum-goers. In Britain, the country that gave us both the steam engine and the legendary off-road vehicle the Land Rover Defender, one inventor combined the two, much to the amusement …
Alaska’s all-Republican congressional delegation three weeks ago praised Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke after he announced nearly all federal waters off the state’s coast could be offered for petroleum lease sales. But after hearing from critics who do not want drilling in their home waters, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan …
A U.S. trade commission on Friday handed an unexpected victory to Bombardier Inc. against Boeing Co., in a ruling that allows the Canadian company to sell its newest jets to U.S. airlines without heavy duties, sending Bombardier’s shares up 15 percent. The U.S. International Trade Commission’s unanimous decision was the latest twist in U.S.-Canadian …
President Donald Trump has warned that the United States will no longer tolerate unfair trade practices and will always put America first in future trade deals. Giving the closing speech at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos on Friday, Trump lauded the performance of the U.S. …
Around the world, an area larger than all of South America has been deforested, eroded, drained or salinized. A new report says there’s money to be made restoring that land. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more. …
The U.S. economy likely maintained a brisk pace of growth in the fourth quarter, driven by an acceleration in consumer and business spending, which could set it on course to attain the Trump administration’s 3 percent annual growth target this year. Gross domestic product probably increased at a 3.0 percent …
According to the World Health Organization, 2.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. Many of them rely on wells and streams, making testing the water for bacterial contamination of crucial importance. However, cheap and reliable testing equipment is often not available or not affordable. Scientists in …