The U.S. election calendar could be a key factor in determining the scope and timing of a potential deal to end the North Korean nuclear program. Planning is progressing for both the upcoming summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the end of April and the expected…
read moreThe European Commission will put forward a proposed free-trade agreement with Japan for fast-track approval Wednesday, hoping to avoid a repeat of the public protests that nearly derailed a trade pact with Canada two years ago. The European Union and Japan concluded negotiations to create the world’s largest economic area in December, signaling their rejection…
read moreThe city of Yanan, a major wind power base in northwest China’s Shaanxi province, has introduced a lottery system to decide which wind projects will go ahead this year, a sign that grid constraints are forcing local governments to restrict capacity. China has been aggressively developing alternative power as part of its efforts to cut…
read moreChevron said on Tuesday two of its executives were arrested in Venezuela, a rare move likely to spook foreign energy firms still operating in the OPEC nation stricken by hyperinflation, shortages and crime. Venezuelan Sebin intelligence agents burst into the Petropiar joint venture’s office in the coastal city of Puerto La Cruz on Monday and…
read moreSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday thwarted a bipartisan effort to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s job, saying he will not hold a floor vote on the legislation even if it is approved next week in the Senate Judiciary Committee. McConnell said the bill is unnecessary because President Donald Trump will not fire Mueller.…
read morePresident Donald Trump formally notified Congress on Tuesday that deputy CIA director Gina Haspel is his pick to lead the agency. Trump tweeted last month that he had selected Haspel to replace Mike Pompeo, who is being considered to be secretary of state. But the president had not sent the formal paperwork to Capitol Hill. …
read moreAmericans who waited until the last day to file their federal taxes faced a major hurdle hours before the midnight deadline. The Internal Revenue Service website’s “Direct Pay” page, which allows filers to pay their taxes directly from their bank account free of charge, crashed Tuesday. The IRS still expects Americans to pay their taxes…
read moreBarbara Bush, the snowy-haired first lady whose plainspoken manner and utter lack of pretense made her more popular at times than her husband, President George H.W. Bush, died Tuesday. She was 92. Family spokesman Jim McGrath confirmed the death in a statement. The cause wasn’t immediately known. Mrs. Bush brought a grandmotherly style…
read moreThe new White House economic adviser apologized Tuesday to U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley after suggesting she was suffering from “momentary confusion” when she announced over the weekend that new sanctions against Russia were imminent. Haley had fired back at Larry Kudlow, saying, “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.” A White House…
read morePressure grew in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to debate legislation protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation, in a challenge to President Donald Trump, who has declared as “dead” an existing program allowing them to legally study and work in the United States. A bipartisan group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers scheduled a…
read moreConcerned by a rise in near misses by unmanned aircraft and commercial jets, the world’s airlines back development of a U.N.-led global registry for drones, an executive of their trade group said Tuesday. The International Air Transport Association backs efforts by the U.N. aviation agency to develop such a registry, which could also help track the number of incidents…
read moreStarbucks said Tuesday it will close all of its more than 8,000 company-owned U.S. stores on May 29 to educate employees about racial bias in an attempt to prevent more acts of discrimination. The announcement was made days after the arrest of two African American men who sat in a Starbucks in the northeastern city…
read moreSome of Europe’s biggest venture capital firms are buying into sales of new virtual coins or asking their investors to give them the freedom to do so, in a sign of mainstream investor backing for the booming but controversial crowd-funding tool. Germany’s HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, which has more than 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion) under…
read moreInternational Monetary Fund experts say the global economy will continue growing well for the next two years, but expect expansion to slow after 2020. IMF research director Maurice Obstfeld said Tuesday fading trade could hurt growth and, “The first shots in a potential trade war have now been fired.” He repeated a warning the international…
read moreEvery year when the pastoralist men in Fatima Demba’s Mauritanian village return from their months-long journey to find pastures and water, the women erupt in wild celebrations. “We draw henna tattoos on our bodies, we braid our hair, we wear our nicest clothes,” she said, re-adjusting her bright yellow and blue robe. Yet although she…
read moreToyota Motor Corp. plans to start selling U.S. vehicles that can talk to each other using short-range wireless technology in 2021, the Japanese automaker said on Monday, potentially preventing thousands of accidents annually. The U.S. Transportation Department must decide whether to adopt a pending proposal that would require all future vehicles to have the advanced…
read moreU.S. senators announced long-awaited legislation on Monday to provide congressional authorization for campaigns against militant groups in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, as lawmakers push to take back authority over the military from the White House. A group led by Senators Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Tim Kaine, a committee…
read moreThe U.S. Department of Commerce has banned American companies from selling components to Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE for seven years after breaking an agreement reached after it was caught illegally shipping goods to Iran, U.S. officials said Monday. The U.S. action, first reported by Reuters, could be devastating to ZTE since American companies are…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday it is unacceptable that Russia and China are devaluating their currencies, days after the Treasury Department declined to label these countries as currency manipulators in its latest report. Amid a possible new round of sanctions against Russia and a simmering trade war with China, Trump tweeted Monday…
read moreMichael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer who is under criminal investigation for his business dealings, has secretly provided legal advice to conservative talk show host and unabashed Trump supporter Sean Hannity. The disclosure came Monday during a hearing in a federal court in New York where lawyers for Cohen and Trump asked a…
read moreThe granddaughter of former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush says Bush is in “great spirits” and is grateful for “everybody’s prayers,” a day after the family said Bush is in failing health. A spokesman for the family, Jim McGrath, gave more details on Monday about the former first lady’s health history but did not elaborate…
read moreSouth African President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a team of business and finance experts on Monday to hunt the globe for 100 billion rand ($8 billion) in investment to boost the ailing economy. The team of economic envoys includes two former finance ministers — Trevor Manuel and Pravin Gordhan, who now holds the state firms portfolio…
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