Category: Business

Burden or business opportunity? A new U.N.-backed study of refugees from the World Bank's International Financial Corporation argues for the latter. The IFC researchers examined one of Africa's oldest and largest refugee camps, Kakuma in northwest Kenya. What they found is a growing consumer base…

A senior United Nations official says trade protectionism, rising private and corporate debt, and shortcomings in revenue raising are growing challenges to the economic outlook for the Asia Pacific. Shamshad Akhtar, executive secretary of the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific…

Mexico on Thursday indicated time was running out to see whether NAFTA nations could agree a new deal in the short term while Canada struck a upbeat tone, saying top-level talks this week had achieved a great deal. Major differences remain between the three members…

Virginia Wallen is a wife, a mother of three, and a woodworker. She achieved what she has never imagined she would — turning her carpentry hobby into a business. The entrepreneur isn’t just succeeding in her new career, she’s tearing down stereotypes and building a…

Wall Street surged on Wednesday as surging oil prices boosted energy stocks following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision the previous day to quit a nuclear agreement with Iran. Gains were broad and volume was high, with all but the utilities and telecom sectors advancing as investors who had moved to…

 A New York hedge fund founder was arrested Wednesday on charges that he exaggerated his company's performance by over $200 million to impress and preserve investors. Anilesh Ahuja, 49, of Manhattan, was charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. Federal officials said that the…

Saudi Arabia is monitoring the impact of the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on oil supplies and is ready to offset any shortage but it will not act alone to fill the gap, an OPEC source familiar with the kingdom's oil thinking said.…

A United Nations agency said on Tuesday an "unjust" U.S. financial and trade embargo on Cuba had cost the country's economy $130 billion over nearly six decades, coming up with the same estimate as the island's communist government. Although many U.S. allies join Washington in…

President Donald Trump will allow year-round sales of renewable fuel with blends of 15 percent ethanol as part of an emerging deal to make changes to the federal ethanol mandate.   Republican senators and the White House announced the deal Tuesday after a closed-door meeting,…

With the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs between Washington and Beijing looming, Chinese buyers are canceling orders for U.S. soybeans, a trend that could deal a blow to American farmers if it continues. At the same time, farmers in China are being encouraged to plant more…

Trade negotiations between China and the United States continue early next week in Washington D.C., but analysts say after the first round, the differences between the two sides are huge. Some believe the differences are so fundamental and big that an escalation of tariffs is…

The Trump administration is unveiling a multibillion-dollar roster of proposed spending cuts but is leaving this year's $1.3 trillion catchall spending bill alone.   The cuts wouldn't have much impact, however, since they come from leftover funding from previous years that wouldn't be spent anyway.…

Australia's government is expected to release annual spending plans on Tuesday with a focus on winning votes at elections due within a year. Cheaper craft beer plus personal tax cuts compensated by strengthening company tax revenue have been flagged as well as more investment on…

Nestle is paying more than $7 billion to handle global retail sales of Starbucks's coffee and tea outside of its coffee shops. The deal comes with a huge price tag for Nestle, but it could pay off big for the Swiss company. Its Nescafe and…

A small band of Belgian monks are planning to start producing their own beer again, more than 200 years after invading French troops stopped all brewing at the abbey. The men from Grimbergen Abbey started making beer in 1128, but stopped in 1797 when the…

Afghanistan's poverty rate has worsened sharply over the past five years as the economy has stalled and the Taliban insurgency has spread, with more than half the population living on less than a dollar a day, a survey published on Monday showed. The Afghanistan Living…

An innovative consumer awareness campaign will be launched this summer in several cities in the United States. The campaign is aimed at preventing the waste of food that costs the world billions of dollars and has severe consequences on global food security and the environment.…

The U.S. and China ended the second day of high level talks Friday aimed at avoiding a possible trade war. The U.S. delegation, headed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, will brief President Donald Trump Saturday and "seek his decision on next steps," the White House…

President Trump reveled in the 3.9 percent U.S. unemployment rate Friday, following the release of figures by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But some say that these numbers don't tell the whole story. From Washington, VOA's Jill Craig has more. ...

The Trump administration has drawn a hard line in trade talks with China, demanding a $200 billion cut in the Chinese trade surplus with the United States, sharply lower tariffs and advanced technology subsidies, people familiar with the talks said Friday. The lengthy list of…

U.S. employers stepped up hiring modestly in April, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent, evidence of the economy's resilience amid the recent stock market chaos and anxieties about a possible trade war. Job growth amounted to a decent 164,000 last month, up from…

Venezuela said on Thursday it would take over the country's leading private bank, Banesco, for 90 days and announced the arrest of 11 top executives for "attacks" against the country's rapidly depreciating bolivar currency. The detentions came on the heels of last month's shock arrests of two Venezuelan executives working…

Venezuela said on Thursday it would take over the country's leading private bank, Banesco, for 90 days and announced the arrest of 11 top executives for "attacks" against the country's rapidly depreciating bolivar currency. The detentions came on the heels of last month's shock arrests of two Venezuelan executives working…

A federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn with conspiracy and wire fraud in the car builder's scheme to rig diesel emissions tests. "If you try to deceive the United States, then you will pay a heavy price," Attorney General…

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in March as exports increased to a record high amid a surge in deliveries of commercial aircraft and soybeans, bolstering the economy's outlook heading into the second quarter. While other data on Thursday showed a modest increase in new…

President Trump plans to meet next week with leaders from U.S. and foreign carmakers on trade and changes to emission standards. “When the White House wants to meet with us about our sector and policy, we welcome the opportunity,” Alliance of American Automobile Manufacturers spokeswoman…

The International Monetary Fund censured Venezuela on Wednesday for failing to hand over essential economic data to the fund. “The [Executive] Board noted that adequate data provision was an essential first step to understanding Venezuela's economic crisis and identifying possible solutions,” an IMF statement said.…

A Chinese company that manufactured Ivanka Trump shoes and has been accused of serious labor abuses is being celebrated in a blockbuster propaganda film for extending China's influence around the globe.   The state-backed documentary "Amazing China" portrays the Huajian Group as a beneficent force…