Month: February 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump has called a meeting early next week with key senators and Cabinet officials to discuss potential changes to biofuels policy, which is coming under increasing pressure after a Pennsylvania refiner blamed the regulation for its bankruptcy, according to four sources familiar…

The U.S. Defense Department supports moves by the Commerce Department to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, although it would prefer a system of targeted tariffs rather than a global quota or a global tariff. The Commerce Department on Feb. 16 recommended that President…

Saudi Arabia will stage more than 5,000 shows, festivals and concerts in 2018, double the number of last year, as it tries to shake off its conservative image in a drive to keep tourist dollars at home and lure in visitors. The state wants to…

General Motors has proposed $2.8 billion of fresh investment into its South Korean operations over the 10 years as part of its plan to restructure the embattled unit, a South Korean senior government official said on Wednesday. The offer comes as the Detroit carmaker and…

South Korea's cryptocurrency industry is anticipating much better times as the market regulator changes tack from its tough stance on the virtual coin trade, promising instead to help promote blockchain technology. The regulator said Tuesday that it hopes to see South Korea — which has…

South Korea said on Wednesday it is signing free trade agreements with five Central American nations aimed at boosting market access for the Korean auto sector and electronics makers. Trade minister Kim Hyun-chong will meet representatives from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama…

Through medication and narcotics smuggling, ivory and people trafficking, oil theft and piracy, Africa is, by conservative estimates, losing about $50 billion a year in illicit financial flows — more, in fact, than it receives in official development assistance.  A report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic…

When Markus Rohner flew into Cape Town's airport this month, he found an unexpected line at the men's washroom. With the city facing an unprecedented water shortage, airport authorities had turned off all the sink taps but one, leaving visitors to wait in line to…

Standing by a towering equatorial forest, Jean-Noel Kouame’s new breeze-block house may be beyond the reach of Ivory Coast’s power grid, but it’s perfectly located for solar power entrepreneurs. Buoyed by success in East Africa, off-grid solar power startups are pouring into West Africa, offering…

For the first time in Ukraine's history, U.S. anthracite is helping to keep the lights on and the heating going this winter following a deal that has also helped to warm Kyiv’s relations with President Donald Trump. The Ukrainian state-owned company that imported the coal…

Brazil's political affairs minister Carlos Marun said on Monday that passage of a bill to overhaul the country's costly social security system has effectively ground to a halt in Congress and would become a campaign issue in this year's election. Marun spoke to reporters after…

Latvia's ABLV Bank sought emergency support Monday after U.S. officials accused it of helping breach North Korean sanctions while the country's central bank chief faced bribery allegations, turning up the spotlight on its financial system. The Baltic country, which is a member of the euro…

Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis assured the country and Europe "there is no sign of danger," after anti-corruption police arrested the head of the Latvian central bank Saturday. "For now, neither I, nor any other official, has any reason to interfere with the work of…

The Commerce Department is urging President Donald Trump to impose tariffs or quotas on aluminum and steel imports from China and other countries. Unveiling the recommendations Friday, Secretary Wilbur Ross said in the case of both industries “the imports threaten to impair our national security.”…

The uncovering of one of the biggest frauds at a state-owned bank in India has rocked the country's financial sector and brought scrutiny to a billionaire jeweler who counted Hollywood stars among his customers. The nearly $1.8 billion fraud reported at India's second-largest state-owned bank…