Author: Busman

Lebanon is marking 75 years of independence with a military parade Thursday in Beirut, but many anxious Lebanese feel they have little to celebrate: the country's corruption-plagued economy is dangerously close to collapse and political bickering over shares in a new Cabinet is threatening to…

Canada will allow businesses to write off additional capital investments to make them more competitive at a time when the United States is aggressively cutting taxes, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Wednesday.  But Morneau, speaking as he unveiled a budget update that forecast a slightly smaller than predicted deficit…

The Trump administration has invited the heads of Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler to the White House to discuss U.S. tariffs on carmakers, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Wednesday. Citing industry and diplomatic sources, the paper said the meeting could possibly take place as soon as…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked Saudi Arabia for tamping down world oil prices, a day after saying the U.S. would not turn its back on Riyadh despite its responsibility for killing a dissident U.S.-based Saudi journalist. From his retreat along the Atlantic Ocean…

Stocks dropped again Tuesday as losses mounted for the world's largest technology companies. Retailers also fell, and energy companies plunged with oil prices as the market sank back into the red for the year.    Oil prices tumbled another 6.6 percent as Wall Street reacted…

Analysts say Boeing Co. is canceling a conference call that it scheduled to discuss issues around its newest plane, which has come under scrutiny since a deadly crash in Indonesia.  The company didn't immediately give an explanation Tuesday.  CFRA Research analyst Jim Corridore said canceling the call as “a bad look for…

Shares in automakers Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault fell sharply Tuesday after the arrest of executive Carlos Ghosn on allegations of "significant acts" of financial misconduct. All three firms are considering replacing him as chairman. Nissan, one of the world's biggest automakers, said Ghosn falsified reports…

World stock markets fell Monday as worries about softening demand for the iPhone dragged down shares of Apple Inc and persistent trade tensions between China and the United States sapped investor sentiment. Concerns about slowing economic growth also pushed down the dollar. The U.S. benchmark…

A new United Nations survey finds that opium cultivation in Afghanistan has decreased by 20 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year, citing a severe drought and falling prices of dry opium at the national level. The total opium-poppy cultivation area decreased to 263,000…

Japanese automaker Nissan says it has determined that its chairman, Carlos Ghosn, falsified reports about his compensation "over many years." The company said its internal investigation also found Ghosn had used company assets for personal purposes. Japanese media are reporting Monday that Ghosn is being…

The United States and China offered competing views to regional leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Papua New Guinea, trading sharp words over trade, investment, and regional security.  Washington said it can provide a better option for regional allies under is…

Federal Reserve policymakers on Friday signaled further interest rate  increases ahead, but raised relatively muted concerns over a potential global  slowdown that has markets betting heavily that the Fed's rate hike cycle will soon peter out. The widening chasm between market expectations and the rate…

Now that South Africa's highest court has relaxed the nation's laws on marijuana, local entrepreneurs are trying to cash in on the popular herb. Among the latest entries to the market: several highly popular cannabis-laced alcohol products, which deliver the unique taste, though without the…

Place names in Arlington County have never been a simple matter. A major fight broke out when National Airport was named for Ronald Reagan in 1998. A fight continues over whether to name a park next to the airport for Nancy Reagan. And in the…

Climate change, steel and migration have emerged as sticking points in the final communique that world leaders will issue at the end of the Group of 20 summit in Argentina later this month, an Argentine government official said on Thursday. Those issues were the “most…

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman expects to get new loans from the International Monetary Fund as early as December, once parliament passes a budget of stability that refrains from making pre-election populist moves, he said Thursday. Securing IMF assistance will also unlock loans from the World Bank and the European Union. Groysman also…

Business leaders expressed growing alarm Thursday as a draft Brexit agreement seen as the only chance of preserving some stability in U.K.-EU trading threatened to unravel, sending stock prices and the pound plunging. Just 12 hours after British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that her…