Month: December 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump boasted Monday of his "very strong and personal relationship" with Chinese President Xi Jinping, declaring a new U.S.-China trade deal would immediately allow American farmers to sell more of their products to Beijing. Stock markets in Asia and Europe jumped sharply after Trump and Xi, as leaders of the world's two biggest economies, agreed Saturday in Argentina to not impose any new tariffs on each other's exports for the next 90 days while they negotiate a detailed trade agreement. U.S. stock indexes also opened sharply higher in New York at the start of a new work week. "My meeting in Argentina with President Xi of China was an extraordinary one," Trump said on Twitter. "Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward! Very good things…

China's president on Sunday signed new trade deals with Argentina as the Asian giant expands its growing role in Latin American economies. Presidents Mauricio Macri of Argentina and Xi Jinping of China announced the more than 30 agriculture and investment deals during a state visit following the Group of 20 summit of leaders in Buenos Aires. The deals include an agreement to export Argentine cherries to China and an expansion of a currency swap. China is among Argentina's top export markets, especially for agricultural commodities that are the engine of its economy. It is also one of Argentina's biggest lenders, financing about $18.2 billion in infrastructure and other projects, according to the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. “China's development benefits Argentina, our region and the world,” Macri said during…

U.S. President Donald Trump has returned home from the Group of 20 meeting of the world’s top economies. After the curtain came down on the summit, the spotlight lingered on the leaders of the two top economies. As VOA’s White House bureau chief Steve Herman reports from Buenos Aires, in the end a truce was achieved in the escalating battle of tariffs between the United States and China. ...

The data stolen from the Marriott hotel empire in a massive breach is so rich and specific it could be used for espionage, identity theft, reputation attacks and even home burglaries, security experts say. Hackers stole data on as many as 500 million guests of former Starwood chain properties over four years including credit card and passport numbers, birthdates, phone numbers and hotel arrival and departure dates. It is one of the biggest data breaches on record. By comparison, last year’s Equifax hack affected more than 145 million people. A Target breach in 2013 affected more than 41 million payment card accounts and exposed contact information for more than 60 million customers. Especially sensitive data But the target here — hotels where high-stakes business deals, romantic trysts and espionage are daily…

A U.S. judge in California has granted preliminary approval of a $48 million settlement for investors who said Volkswagen AG made false and misleading statements about its excess diesel emissions.  Lawyers for the investors, who include police and other municipal pension funds, had estimated that the maximum they could have recovered was $147 million. But Judge Charles Breyer said the settlement agreed to in August appeared "fair, adequate and reasonable."  VW, in a statement, said Friday that the "proposed settlement agreement eliminates the uncertainty and considerable costs of protracted litigation in the United States and is in the best interests of the company." The ruling was issued late Wednesday.  Buybacks In total, Volkswagen has agreed to pay more than $25 billion in the United States for claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers, and has offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S.…