Chinese consumers are spending billions of dollars shopping online for anything from diapers to diamonds on “Singles Day,” a day of promotions that has grown into the world’s biggest e-commerce event. China’s biggest e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group, said sales by retailers on its platforms had topped $19 billion by midafternoon Saturday in a count…
read moreDespite President Donald Trump’s tough talk on trade at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam, international business leaders say they are excited by the prospects of greater cooperation among the 21 member countries of APEC. Many believe the annual economic leaders forum, established nearly three decades ago, will become more influential in the future…
read moreKurdish refugee Hakki Akdeniz left Turkey in 1999 and came to New York City. At times he was homeless and often wondered where his next meal would come from. But as Saleh Damiger reports, he has more than turned his life around. …
read moreHis party suddenly and bitingly divided, Alabama Republican Roy Moore emphatically rejected increasing pressure to abandon his Senate bid on Friday as fears grew among GOP leaders that a once-safe Senate seat was in jeopardy just a month before a special election. Moore, an outspoken Christian conservative and former state Supreme Court judge, attacked a…
read moreUnited States President Donald Trump on Friday wished a happy birthday to the Marine Corps, honoring its 242nd year in existence. “On behalf of an entire nation, Happy 242nd Birthday to the men and women of the United States Marines!” Trump wrote on Twitter, in a post accompanied by several pictures of him posing with…
read moreFrom Britain’s Queen Elizabeth to Formula One racing champion Lewis Hamilton — the leak of more than 14 million documents from firms involved in offshore finance, known as the Paradise Papers, has engulfed some of the world’s most famous names. The latest revelations show U2 frontman Bono used a company based in low-tax Malta to…
read moreFirst Lady Melania Trump is scheduled to visit with military families Friday in Alaska as she returns from Asia. She will get a chance to see military programs for youth at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, including a program where children read to pets to enhance their reading skills. The first lady accompanied President Donald Trump on…
read moreSecretary of State Rex Tillerson says the U.S. opposes action that would threaten the stability of Lebanon and warned other countries against using Lebanon “as a venue for proxy conflicts.” In a statement released Friday, Tillerson said, “There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other…
read moreMaine’s wild blueberry crop fell sharply this summer to land below 100 million pounds (45.3 million kilograms) for the first time in four years, according to a trade group that promotes the industry. Preliminary industry figures show the crop coming in at about 65 million pounds (29.5 million kilograms), Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine…
read moreThe leaders of the United States and China offered starkly contrasting views of the direction for trade in Asia in separate speeches to regional business leaders Friday. VOA White House bureau chief Steve Herman reports from Da Nang in Vietnam. …
read morePresident Donald Trump marked his first Veterans Day in office saluting American veterans in Vietnam, home to one of the most polarizing conflicts in U.S. history. Trump on Friday traveled to Danang, Vietnam, site of an American air base during the war, and met with seven vets who had returned to the country where…
read moreThe large drop in global cocoa prices has hurt African farmers, leading some to abandon their plantations. In Cameroon, however, cocoa producers are mapping out ways to encourage more local processing. At Nkog-Ekogo in the center region of Cameroon, a cocoa post-harvest processing and treatment center is inaugurated. Farmer Petronella Ndukong said that will help…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s two-day stop in China saw the signing of $250 billion in deals between the world’s two biggest economies and the two countries aligning themselves closer in resolute opposition to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. But analysts say little new ground was broken on trade or North Korea, an issue that will continue to…
read moreDonald Trump warned that the stock market was a “big, fat, ugly bubble” just weeks before he was elected. A year later, Wall Street remains on a milestone-shattering run that the president has been eager to tout and tweet about. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, the broadest measure of the stock market, has notched…
read moreFormer New York mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg is donating $50 million to help nations around the world shift from coal to combat pollution and climate change, expanding his funding outside the United States. The project would start in Europe and expand into other countries later on, his charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies, said in a statement…
read moreIn a victory some claimed was a repudiation of President Donald Trump’s stringent refugee policy and others saw as a vindication of the American Dream, voters in Helena, Montana, elected Wilmot Collins, a former refugee from Liberia, as their mayor Tuesday. He will be the first African-American mayor in the state’s history. “There are no…
read moreThe U.S. federal government has released more than 13,000 records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. It was the fourth release this year. Most of the collection comprising about 5 million pages of records has been released to the public, but some documents have been withheld over the years to…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump moves on to Vietnam on Friday in the next leg of his 12-day sweep across east Asia in which he is discussing trade, diplomatic relations and North Korea. Trump is headed to Vietnam to attend an APEC summit, where leaders of the major economies in the region will discuss growth and…
read moreA group of 37 U.S.-based scientists whose research focuses on Arctic wildlife asked two U.S. senators in a letter Thursday not to open the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, according to a copy seen by Reuters. The scientists, including several retired former officials from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game,…
read moreThe outsourcing industry in the Philippines, which has dethroned India as the country with the most call centers in the world, is worried that the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) will eat into the $23 billion sector. AI-powered translators could dilute the biggest advantage the Philippines has, which is the wide use of English, an…
read moreThe House intelligence committee is preparing to interview a Russian-American lobbyist who attended a meeting last year with President Donald Trump’s son as part of its probe into Russian election interference. The panel is also expected to interview Attorney General Jeff Sessions in coming weeks, according to people familiar with the interviews. The House interview…
read moreTwo Republican bills that would achieve the largest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years are set to be unveiled Thursday. While Senate Republicans are working out final details of their legislation, the House Republican tax-writing committee is working to approve its version after days of negotiation and last-minute changes. Republican…
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