Category: News

Leaders of the U.S. central bank raised interest rates slightly Wednesday and signaled that rates are likely to go higher as the economy continues to strengthen. At the end of two days of deliberation in Washington, the Federal Reserve set the key interest rate a quarter of a percent higher, at a range between 1.75 and 2 percent. They say the labor market continues to improve, spending is rising, and inflation is rising closer to the modest 2 percent annual rate that experts say helps the economy grow predictably. Fed officials work to maximize employment while maintaining stable prices. With that in mind, they slashed interest rates to nearly zero during the recession in 2008 to boost economic activity. Now, they judge that it is time to continue raising rates…

German authorities fined Volkswagen nearly $1.2 billion Wednesday for its role in a diesel emissions scandal that first surfaced in the United States in 2015. Prosecutors found the German automaker failed to properly monitor its engine development department. The lack of oversight resulted in global sales of nearly 11 million diesel vehicles with illegal emissions-controlling software. U.S. authorities previously imposed billions of dollars in penalties on the automaker, which said Wednesday it would accept the fine announced by prosecutors in the city of Braunschweig. Volkswagen said paying the latest fine would hopefully have "positive effects on other official proceedings being conducted in Europe" against the company and its subsidiaries. ...

As the trade dispute escalates between the United States and its global trading partners, American bourbon whiskey is among the U.S. exports in the crosshairs. It will soon be subject to a 25 percent tariff imposed by a growing number of countries as a retaliatory measure for U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, the retaliation is a blow to smaller craft distilleries in the U.S. trying to expand overseas. ...

Distilling spirits is in Paul Hletko’s DNA. “Prior to World War II, my grandfather’s family owned what is now a major brewery in the Czech Republic,” he told VOA. But his grandfather’s Jewish family lost more than a brewery when the Nazis took over Europe during the war. “The whole family got taken to the camps where they were all murdered, except my grandfather. He spent the rest of his life trying to get the brewery back and never did. And when he died, it struck me that if I didn’t do something to reconnect and reengage with the family legacy, it would be gone forever," Hletko said. Honoring his family legacy forced Hletko away from a law career to launch Few Spirits in 2008… an homage to his ancestors,…

Shares of embattled Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE plunged more than 40 percent Wednesday, its first day of trading after agreeing to pay a $1 billion fine to the United States for violating trade sanctions. ZTE nearly went under after the Trump administration imposed a seven-year ban on the company from buying crucial software and hardware components for its smartphones and other devices from U.S. companies. The ban was punishment for ZTE putting U.S.-built components in its products and selling those goods to countries under a U.S. trade embargo, including Iran and North Korea. The sanctions were lifted after ZTE agreed to pay a $1 billion penalty, put another $400 million in escrow, and replace its entire management and board by the middle of July. The company is also required to…

There is no end to demand for what many consider to be Italy’s white gold, the marble from the Tuscan town of Carrara, a name synonymous with the very best money can buy in the world today. It is no secret, and it is not new. The quarrying in these mountains has been going on for more than 2,000 years. The Romans were the first to be lured by the stone's beauty and millions of tourists to this day still flock to admire some of the most magnificent ancient monuments made with this special stone, the likes of the Pantheon and Trajan’s Column in the Eternal City. And then there are famous statues like the David and the Pietà by Renaissance master Michelangelo. So what is happening in Carrara today?…

The European Central Bank will on Thursday weigh when and how to end its bond-buying stimulus program — an exit that will have far-reaching consequences across the economy, from long-suffering savers to Europe's indebted governments.   The bank, which sets monetary policy for the 19 countries that use the euro, has been buying 30 billion euros ($35.5 billion) a month in government and corporate bonds from banks. The purchases are slated to run at least through September, and longer if necessary.   Analysts say that decisions on the exit path, which could include several intermediate steps, might come Thursday or at the July 26 meeting. Scenarios include reducing the purchases past September, and then stopping them at the end of the year.   An end to the stimulus would be part…

The separatist campaign in Indian-administered Kashmir broke out into major violence in 1989. More than 60,000 people are estimated to have died and 10,000 to have disappeared in the disputed Himalayan region. That has pushed their families into poverty. For the region's youth, earning a living has been a challenge, especially educated young women. However, one group of young entrepreneurs is taking matters into their own hands. Yusuf Jameel has more, in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. ...

The United States will not lift the ban on doing business with Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE until ZTE pays a $1 billion fine for trade violations and places $400 million more in escrow.   The U.S. Commerce Department released details of its settlement it made with ZTE, under President Trump's orders, to let the crippled company get back in business again. "Today, BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security) is imposing the largest penalty it has ever levied and requiring ZTE adopt unprecedented compliance measures," U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Monday. The White House has already threatened that ZTE will be shut down again if it engages in just one more bad activity. Last week, the Chinese company agreed to the $1 billion fine for putting U.S. built components in…

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde led an attack by global economic organizations on U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" trade policy Monday, warning that clouds over the global economy "are getting darker by the day." Trump backed out of a joint communique agreed by Group of Seven leaders in Canada over the weekend that mentioned the need for "free, fair and mutually beneficial trade" and the importance of fighting protectionism. The U.S. president, who has imposed import tariffs on metals, is furious about the United States' large trade deficit with key allies. "Fair trade is now to be called fool trade if it is not reciprocal," he tweeted Monday. In response, Lagarde unleashed a thinly veiled attack on Trump's trade policy, saying challenges to the way trade is conducted…

South Sudan's central bank said Monday it will issue higher denomination banknotes, enabling citizens to carry fewer notes as rampant inflation continues to devalue the local currency. The bank said it would introduce a 500-pound bill, worth $1.5 U.S. dollars, into circulation this month. Currently the largest note in circulation is a 100-pound bill. South Sudan's economy is close to collapse after a 2015 peace deal with Sudan failed to stick and fighting between rival soldiers has continued. The conflict has hurt the country's crude oil output, which is at less than half of its pre-war level of 245,000 barrels per day. "The Bank of South Sudan would like to inform the general public that it is introducing a new banknote of 500 South Sudanese pounds as legal tender in…

President Donald Trump tweeted out more criticism of U.S. trade partners Monday, including allies in Europe and Canada, adding to his declarations that the United States will no longer tolerate what he has called "trade abuse." "Sorry, we cannot let our friends, or enemies, take advantage of us on Trade anymore. We must put the American worker first!" Trump said. That was part of a string of messages in which the president asserted the United States "pays close the the entire cost of NATO" while other member countries take advantage of the U.S. on trade. "We protect Europe (which is good) at great financial loss, and then get unfairly clobbered on Trade," he said. "Change is coming!" NATO members, in general, make financial contributions based on their economic output, and…

A radical plan to transform Switzerland's financial landscape by barring commercial banks from electronically creating money when they lend was resoundingly rejected by Swiss voters on Sunday. More than three quarters rejected the so-called Sovereign Money initiative, according to the official result released from the Swiss government. All of the country's self-governing cantons also voted against in the poll, which needed a majority from Switzerland's 26 cantons as well as a simple majority of voters to succeed. Concerns about the potential risks to the Swiss economy by introducing a "vollgeld" or "real money" system appear to have convinced voters to reject the proposals. The Swiss government, which had opposed the plan because of the uncertainties it would unleash, said it was pleased with the result. "Implementing such a scheme, which…

Italy's new coalition government has no intention of leaving the euro and plans to focus on cutting debt levels, Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on Sunday, looking to reassure nervous financial markets. Italian government bonds have come under concerted selling pressure on fears the government will embark on a spending splurge that Italy can ill-afford and markets are wary that euro-skeptics within the coalition might try to push Italy out of the eurozone. In his first interview since taking office a week ago, Tria told Corriere della Sera newspaper that the coalition wanted to boost growth through investment and structural reforms. "Our goal is [to lift] growth and employment. But we do not plan on reviving growth through deficit spending," Tria said, adding that he would present new economic forecasts…

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)is holding its first summit since India and Pakistan joined the bloc which is widely seem by observers as a means for blocking American influence in Central Asia.  The founding members of the alliance are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.  The summit is being held in the eastern Chinese coastal city of Qingdao.  Chinese President Xi Jingping told the group in opening remarks Sunday, "We should reject selfish, short-sighted, narrow and closed-off policies.We must maintain the rules of the World Trade Organization, support the multilateral trade system and build an open global economy." Political analysts see the Chinese leader's remarks as a thinly veiled reference to the chaos at the recent G-7 summit in Canada where the U.S. and its allies were divided by…

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday that nearly $3 billion in pledges has been raised to help fund the education of vulnerable girls and women around the world. Canada will contribute $300 million to the campaign. Germany, Japan, Britain and the World Bank are among the additional supporters.  The prime minister made the announcement on the last day of the G-7 summit which was held in Quebec.  Women's groups that had met with Trudeau on the sidelines of the summit welcomed the news of the generous pledges that exceeded the groups' expectations.  "It gives young women in developing countries the opportunity to pursue careers instead of early marriage and child labor," said Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head in Pakistan because of her campaign…

Prime Minister Theresa May will gather together squabbling British ministers at her country residence after this month's European Union summit to settle on details of a much-anticipated Brexit policy paper. May has yet to agree on some of the fundamental details of what type of trading relationship she wants to have with the European Union after Britain leaves next March. As a result, talks with the EU have all but ground to a halt, raising fears among businesses and in Brussels that Britain could end up crashing out of the bloc without an agreed-upon deal. "There's going to be a lot happening over the next few weeks. You know, people want us to get on with it, and that's exactly what we're doing," May told reporters on her way to a G-7 summit in Canada. May will look to the June…

French President Emmanuel Macron's economic policy is viewed as favoring the rich and must change to address inequalities, according to a memo written by three economists who worked on his campaign program, Le Monde newspaper said on Saturday. The criticism is the latest sign of the trouble created by Macron's economic reforms among the center-left supporters who propelled him to power last year. In the confidential memo sent to Macron and plastered across Le Monde's front page, the economists said his policy was failing to convince "even the most ardent supporters." "Many supporters of the then-candidate express their fear of a lurch to the right motivated by the temptation to steal the political space left vacant by a struggling conservative party," the economists wrote. Jean Pisani-Ferry, the Sciences Po Paris…

Australia's Commonwealth Bank has agreed to pay a $530 million fine for breaching anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing laws. The scandal relates to more than 53,000 suspect transactions that the bank did not immediately report to authorities. If approved by the Federal Court, this will be the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history. At the heart of the case were so-called smart cash machines that allowed customers to anonymously deposit and transfer money. Thousands of suspect transactions of more than $7,600 each were not referred to the authorities as required by law. An investigation by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC), the federal financial intelligence agency, along with state and federal police found the machines were being used to launder the proceeds of crime.  Australian Treasurer Scott…

Pope Francis has told the world's oil executives that a transition to less-polluting energy sources "is a challenge of epochal proportions." On the last day of a two-day conference Saturday, the Roman Catholic leader urged the executives to provide electricity to the one billion people who are without it, but said that process must be done in a way that avoids "creating environmental imbalances resulting in deterioration and pollution gravely harmful to our human family, both now and in the future." Reuters reports the unprecedented conference was held behind closed doors at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The news agency says the oil executives, investors and Vatican experts who attended the summit, believe, like the pope does, that science supports the notion that climate change is caused by human activity…