Month: January 2019

Iranian crude oil imports by Asia's top four buyers dropped to the lowest volume in three years in 2018 amid U.S. sanctions on Tehran, but China and India stepped up imports in December after getting waivers from Washington. Asia's top four buyers of Iranian crude…

Ghirardelli and Russell Stover have agreed to pay $750,000 in fines after prosecutors in California said they offered a little chocolate in a lot of wrapping. Prosecutors in Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Fresno, Santa Cruz and Yolo counties sued the candy makers, alleging they misled…

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Thursday pushing those who receive federal funds to "buy American." The aim is to boost U.S. manufacturing. Peter Navarro, director of the White House National Trade Council, told reporters during a telephone briefing the policies are helping…

Thousands of commuters flock to Manila's railway tracks every day, but rather than boarding the trains, they climb on to wooden carts pushed along the tracks, to avoid the Philippine capital's infamous traffic gridlock. The trolleys, as the carts are known, most of them fitted…

U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation to limit the president’s power to levy import tariffs for national security reasons. The bills face an uncertain future but underscore bipartisan concerns on Capitol Hill over the rising costs of the Trump administration’s trade policies. The United States…

The Trump Organization, responding to claims that some of its workers were in the U.S. illegally, said on Wednesday that it will use the E-Verify electronic system at all of its properties to check employees' documentation. A lawyer for a dozen immigrant workers at the…

Pakistan's government has proposed to eliminate taxes associated with manufacturing of solar and wind energy equipment in the country, in an effort to boost the production and use of renewable power and overcome power shortages. A new government budget bill, expected to be approved in…

Faced with potentially ruinous lawsuits over California's recent wildfires, Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday in a move that could lead to higher bills for customers of the nation's biggest utility and reduce the size of any payouts to fire victims. The…

Ireland has alerted the European Commission that it will seek emergency aid in the event of a no-deal Brexit and is considering a range of other ways to help firms cope, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Tuesday. With close trading links with Britain, Ireland's…

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PdVSA, in an increased effort to pressure Nicolás Maduro to relinquish power to Juan Guaidó, now recognized by the U.S. and a number of other nations as the country's legitimate president. VOA's diplomatic correspondent Cindy…

Brazil eyes management overhaul for Vale after dam disaster Brazil's government weighed pushing for a management overhaul at iron ore miner Vale SA on Monday as grief over the hundreds feared killed by a dam burst turned into anger, with prosecutors, politicians and victims' families…

Food shocks, or sudden losses of crops, livestock or fish, due to the combination extreme weather conditions and geopolitical events like war, increased from 1961 to 2013, said researchers at The University of Tasmania in a report released Monday. Researchers saw a steady increase in…

The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in Seattle, Washington, in 1971 - and grew into what is perhaps the world's best known American coffee company. But in Seattle, it is not the only brew in town, and as Natasha Mozgovaya discovered, locals never lost their…

Malawi is the latest African country to look at legalizing cannabis – the plant that produces hemp and marijuana - after similar moves in Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. As Malawi's tobacco industry - the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner - has dwindled due to…