Author: Busman

India has downplayed the impact of U.S. plans to end New Delhi's preferential trade status that allows duty free access to products worth $ 5.6 billion.   Saying that India has not assured the United States that it will provide “equitable and reasonable access” to…

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin informed Congress on Monday that he will stop making payments into two government retirement funds now that the debt limit has gone back into effect. In a letter to congressional leaders, Mnuchin said that he would stop making investments into a…

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido named Harvard University economist Ricardo Hausmann as the country's representative to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Guaido's envoy to the United States, Carlos Vecchio, wrote in a tweet on Monday. Guaido, who calls socialist President Nicolas Maduro a usurper after…

A U.S. judge on Monday acquitted a former top foreign exchange trader at Barclays Plc accused of illegally trading ahead of an $8 billion transaction for Hewlett-Packard, without letting the case go to a jury. The acquittal of Robert Bogucki, who led Barclays' foreign exchange…

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average snapped a three-day run of losses on Friday as optimism about the prospects for a U.S.-China trade agreement countered downbeat U.S. and China manufacturing data.  The Nasdaq, meanwhile, marked its longest streak of weekly gains since late 1999.  Following…

U.S. consumer spending tumbled 0.5 percent in December, the biggest decline in nine years, as the holiday shopping season ended in disappointment. Meanwhile, incomes rose sharply in December but edged down in January. The fall in consumer spending followed sizable gains of 0.7 percent in…

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed the nation's first statewide mandatory rent control measure on Thursday, giving a victory to housing advocates who say spiraling rent costs in the economically booming state have fueled widespread homelessness and housing insecurity.      Brown, a Democrat, said the legislation…

Tesla says it is now taking orders for the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3, will close stores and move to online orders. Tesla says it is now taking orders for the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3, a car for the masses that is essential for the company…

Gap Inc. said Thursday that it would separate its Old Navy brand into a publicly traded company in order to focus on its struggling namesake apparel business, sending its shares up 18 percent.  Old Navy has had a better success than the Gap brand in recent years as a…

Online crafts retailer Etsy Inc will go green by offsetting planet-warming carbon emissions from its shipping activities, the U.S. company said Wednesday, joining a host of companies making public moves to battle climate change. Etsy will buy clean energy certificates supporting tree conservation in the…

As Walmart moves to phase out its familiar blue-vested "greeters" at 1,000 stores nationwide, disabled workers who fill many of those jobs say they're being ill-treated by a chain that styles itself as community-minded and inclusive.    Walmart told greeters around the country last week that…

Women around the world are granted only three-quarters of the legal rights enjoyed by men, often preventing them from getting jobs or opening businesses, the World Bank said in study published Wednesday.    "If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would…

The Federal Reserve will stop shrinking its $4 trillion balance sheet later this year, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, ending a process that investors say works at cross-purposes with the Fed's current pause on interest rate hikes.  "We've worked out, I think, the framework of a plan that…

Boeing on Wednesday unveiled an unmanned, fighter-like jet developed in Australia and designed to fly alongside crewed aircraft in combat for a fraction of the cost. The U.S. manufacturer hopes to sell the multi-role aircraft, which is 38 feet long (11.6 meters) and has a…

Brazil's Senate confirmed Roberto Campos Neto as central bank governor on Tuesday, after he stressed that controlling inflation and reining in public spending were critical to supporting economic growth. Much work must still be done to secure Brazil's economic recovery, Campos Neto told the Senate's…

The Federal Reserve is in "no rush to make a judgment" about further changes to interest rates, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday as he spelled out the central bank's approach to an economy that is likely slowing. In two hours of…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared war on food inflation. With food prices rising nearly 30 percent and looming critical local elections next month Erdogan is turning to unconventional methods to rein in costs. Subsidized food is being sold at distribution centers in Istanbul…

Kenya's ride-hailing company ‘Little Cab’ is expanding to Tanzania and Ghana. The company will start offering rides in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam next week and plans to launch in Accra by May. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. ...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared war on inflation after food prices in the country soared by 30 percent after last year’s collapse of the Turkish currency. In a bid aimed at securing his political future, Erdogan is taking radical measures to curb price…

The old center of Benghazi lies in ruins but one shopping street has sprung up in the war-ravaged Libyan city, with sportswear and fashion stores that would not be out of place in Dubai or Istanbul. Foreign brands are tapping into residents' desire to enjoy…

Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell worked hard to strengthen ties with Congress during his first year as head of the U.S. central bank, doubling the pace of meetings with lawmakers over his predecessors and courting Democrats and Republicans alike. The value of that effort will get…

Afghanistan has started shipping goods to India for the first time through a newly developed Iranian seaport in a bid to improve exports and reduce reliance on routes through its uneasy neighbor, Pakistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani traveled Sunday to the western border city of…

The United States and China are discussing a meeting between their two leaders soon to finalize a trade agreement. To move things forward, the latest round of trade talks between senior officials is being extended into the weekend. As Nike Ching reports, experts say world's…

Stocks rose in major markets around the world Friday on bets of progress in trade talks between China and the United States, while crude futures hit their highest level in more than three months supported by ongoing supply cuts.  U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that there was a very…

The Trump administration is denying and delaying more skilled-worker visa petitions than at any time since at least 2015, in keeping with its promise to increase scrutiny of foreign workers, according to data the government released on Friday. U.S. officials say they have made reforms…

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He expressed optimism Friday that the two countries would reach a trade agreement and defuse a dispute between the world's two largest economies, as both sides agreed to continue their negotiations for two more days. "I…

Analysts say a $15.4 billion write-down for food giant Kraft Heinz reflects changing consumer taste for fresh food products over processed ones. The company said Thursday the decrease in value of some of its major brands resulted in a net loss of $12.6 billion. Kraft…

From homeowners facing higher flood insurance premiums to investors putting money into coal-fired power plants, financial risks related to climate change are growing, analysts say.  But working out how a switch to lower-carbon train travel could affect an airline or what an insurance firm should do to weather more flood claims…