Year: 2019

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 anti-tobacco campaigns, farmers are now looking to grow cannabis. Lameck Masina reports from Lilongwe. ...

The World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, that wrapped up Friday, had some notable absentees, including U.S. President Donald Trump. With a backlash against a perceived ruling elite gaining ground in many countries, analysts say some leaders steered clear of a gathering often seen as an inaccessible club for the world’s super-rich. Others argue it is vital they get together to discuss urgent issues like climate change and world trade. On the surface, though, it was business as usual: On a sealed off, snowbound mountaintop, world leaders rubbed shoulders with global executives, lobbyists and pressure groups. It remains a vital gathering of global decision-makers, said Leslie Vinjamuri, head of the U.S. and the Americas Program at policy group Chatham House. “They’re there to do business, they’re there to engage in an exchange…

A government-appointed commission laid out a plan Saturday for Germany to phase out coal use by 2038.    The commission — made up of politicians, climate experts, union representatives and industry figures from coal regions — developed the plan under mounting pressure on Europe's top economy to step up efforts to combat climate change. "This is a historic day," the commission's head, Ronald Pofalla, said after 20 hours of negotiations. The recommendations, which involve at least $45.6 billion in aid to coal-mining states affected by the move, must be reviewed by the German government and 16 regional states. While some government officials lauded the report, energy provider RWE, which runs several coal-fired plants, said the 2038 cutoff date would be "way too early." Despite its reputation as a green country, Germany…

Impatient with the lack of World Trade Organization rules to cover the explosive growth of e-commerce, 76 countries and regions agreed on Friday to start negotiating this year on a set of open and predictable regulations. The WTO’s 164 members were unable to consolidate some 25 separate e-commerce proposals at the body’s biennial conference at Buenos Aires in December, including a call to set up a central e-commerce negotiating forum. In a gathering on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, ministers from a smaller group of countries including the United States, the European Union and Japan, agreed to work out an agenda for negotiations they hope to kick off this year on setting new e-commerce rules. “The current WTO rules don’t match the needs of the 21st…

A Republican U.S. representative on Thursday introduced White House-drafted legislation that would give President Donald Trump more power to levy tariffs on imported goods in an effort to pressure other countries to lower their duties and other trade barriers. The measure offered by Representative Sean Duffy, which has been touted by Trump administration officials, has already been declared unacceptable by some Republican senators, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley. Democrats, who control the House of Representatives and its legislative agenda, are unlikely to grant Trump more executive authority, especially as a standoff over the partial government shutdown drags on. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could not immediately be reached for comment. The Reciprocal Trade Act, which Trump was expected to highlight in his now-delayed State of the…

European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Thursday that Europe should be more ambitious on issues such as climate change as a way to unite the bloc around a single vision. "We need a great debate on the future of Europe," she said in a wide-ranging debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos on the state of the continent and the rise of populism. Europeans vote for a new European parliament in May, at a time when citizens in many countries are backing populist parties. Italy's Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said the European Union had become like an archipelago of separate islands. "There is no real European vision at the moment, such as the vision which moved the founders. We need to find things that mobilize people, that…

The European Union on Wednesday warned countries running lucrative schemes granting passports and visas to rich foreigners to toughen checks on applicants amid concern they could be flouting security, money laundering and tax laws. EU countries have welcomed in more than 6,000 new citizens and close to 100,000 new residents through golden passport and visa schemes over the past decade, attracting around 25 billion euros ($28 billion) in foreign direct investment, according to anti-corruption watchdogs Transparency International and Global Witness.   In a first-ever report on the schemes, the EU Commission said that such documents issued in one country can open a back door to citizenship or residency in all 28 states.   Justice Commissioner Vera Jurova said golden visas are the equivalent of "opening the golden gate to Europe…

The hottest job of the future might be app developer. All you have to do is look at what you're holding in the palm of your hand to figure out why. “All of us use our cellphones probably more than we should be every day, and that is what is driving the demand for app developers," said Stacy Rapacon, online editor at personal finance website Kiplinger.com, which has identified the best jobs for the future. "More apps mean more people to develop them.” The median salary for app developers is $100,000, and the industry is expected to grow by 30 percent over the next decade, according to Kiplinger. Nurse practitioner is the next best job on Kiplinger's list. The median income for nurse practitioners is $103,000, and the field is…

The annual World Economic Forum opened today in Switzerland against a backdrop of anxieties over trade disputes, Brexit and a growth slowdown that some fear could tip the world economy. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. ...

The White House on Tuesday said high-level trade talks with Beijing were proceeding uninterrupted, quickly rebutting media reports that progress toward resolving their trade war had faltered. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is to meet his U.S. counterparts in Washington next week as the two sides work to resolve their trade disagreements by March 1, when a 90-day truce is due to expire, allowing U.S. import duties on Chinese goods to increase sharply. Washington and Beijing imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on more than $360 billion worth of goods in two-way trade last year. Trump initiated the trade war because of complaints over unfair Chinese trade practices — concerns shared by the European Union, Japan and others. The Financial Times and CNBC both reported Tuesday afternoon that Washington had canceled a preliminary…

Nigeria is to send a bill recommending a national minimum monthly wage rise of 50 percent to 27,000 naira ($88) to lawmakers in the national assembly, the labor minister said on Tuesday. Cost of living is a major campaign issue ahead of a presidential election on 16 February and unions want the minimum wage to be raised from 18,000 naira. Inflation stood at a seven-month high of 11.44 percent in December. Disagreements over the minimum wage saw labor unions striking across Nigeria in September. President Muhammadu Buhari said in January that he would increase the minimum wage, but did not specify by how much. "The 27,000 naira minimum wage is the benchmark," Labor Minister Chris Ngige told reporters in Abuja on Tuesday. Ngige said some government workers could receive a…

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will headline the first full day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with a speech to political and business leaders.   The nationalist leader is attending an event that has long represented business's interest in increasing ties across borders. But globalism is in retreat as populist leaders around the world put a focus back on nation states, even if that means limiting trade and migration.   After Bolsonaro's speech on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address the gathering on Wednesday.   But several key leaders are not attending to handle big issues at home: U.S. President Donald Trump amid the government shutdown, British Prime Minister Theresa May to grapple with Brexit talks, and France's Emmanuel Macron to face…

Economists warn that political uncertainties and trade tensions could undermine global economic growth. Rights groups warn of the dangers of growing economic inequality. About 3,000 political and economic leaders have gathered in the Swiss resort town of Davos to discuss global business and economic trends at an annual economic forum. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports. ...

The United Nations is forecasting that the global economy will grow by around 3 percent in 2019 and 2020, but says waning support for multilateralism, escalating trade disputes, increasing debt and rising climate risks are clouding prospects The United Nations is forecasting that the global economy will grow by around 3 percent in 2019 and 2020, but says waning support for multilateralism, escalating trade disputes, increasing debt and rising climate risks are clouding prospects. The U.N.'s report on the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2019 also stresses that economic growth is uneven and often doesn't reach countries that need it most. Per capital income is expected to stagnate or see only marginal growth this year in parts of Africa, western Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres…