German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer will discard the name Monsanto when it takes over the controversial US seeds and pesticides producer this week, it said Monday. But Bayer executives insisted Monsanto practices rejected by many environmentalists, including genetic modification of seeds and deployment of “crop protection” technologies like pesticides, were vital to help feed…
read moreInstitutional investors with $26 trillion in assets under management called on Group of Seven leaders on Monday to phase out the use of coal in power generation to help limit climate change, despite strong opposition from Washington. Government plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions were too weak to limit warming as agreed by world leaders…
read moreThree astronauts from the International Space Station have safely returned to Earth after completing a five-month mission. American Scott Tingle, Russian Anton Shkaplerov and Japan’s Norishige Kanai touched down at 12:39 UTC Sunday in Kazakhstan. Shkaplerov, who was the first to be helped out of the Russian Soyuz space capsule, said, “We are a bit…
read moreAn accident, a stroke, or a disease can leave someone paralyzed and unable to walk. That happens to more than 15 million people around the world each year. But new technological advances and physical therapy could help some of them walk again. Among the most promising is the use of robotic exoskeletons, like one…
read moreEvery year more than 15 million people worldwide suffer injuries and illnesses that leave them unable to walk according to the World Health Organization. But new technological advances and physical therapy could help some of them walk again. Among the most promising – is the use of robotic exoskeletons. As Erika Celeste reports, scientists at…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani says it is an “open question” whether Trump will answer questions from investigators probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but that his legal team is leaning to not allowing him to be interviewed. Trump has long said he wants to answer questions from special counsel Robert Mueller,…
read moreThe government Papua New Guinea is considering blocking Facebook while it investigates how to best to regulate the social networking site. Critics say the move would be authoritarian. Authorities in Papua New Guinea, or PNG, say Facebook has become a magnet for illegal and unsavory activity. The government is considering a temporary ban on the…
read moreBritish civil servants have warned of shortages of food, fuel and medicines within weeks if the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Sunday Times said government officials have modeled three potential scenarios for a “no deal” Brexit: mild, severe and “Armageddon.” It said under the “severe” scenario,…
read moreChina has warned that any agreements with Washington in their talks on settling a sprawling trade dispute “will not take effect” if threatened U.S. sanctions including tariff hikes go ahead. The statement Sunday came shortly after delegations led by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and China’s top economic official, Vice Premier Liu He, held another…
read morePresident Donald Trump’s lawyers composed a secret 20-page letter to special counsel Robert Mueller to assert that Trump cannot be forced to testify while arguing that he could not have committed obstruction because he has absolute authority over all federal investigations. The existence of the letter, which was first reported and posted by The New…
read moreBritain will not sign a trade agreement with the United States that is not in the country’s best interests, Trade Minister Liam Fox said Saturday after European Union officials filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over stiff U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. “If we can’t come to an agreement that we…
read moreA lawyer tapped to lead a task force at the Environmental Protection Agency overseeing cleanups at the nation’s most polluted places worked until recently for a top chemical and plastics manufacturer with a troubled legacy of creating some of those toxic sites. Steven D. Cook has been named as the new chair of the Superfund…
read moreAn anonymous bidder offered more than $3.3 million Friday for a private lunch with Warren Buffett, an amount just short of the record paid in 2016 and 2012 for the chance to pick the brain of the renowned investor and philanthropist. An online auction that raises money for the Glide Foundation’s work to help the…
read moreBirds and airplanes share the sky, so inevitably collisions occur. But airport authorities try to limit those encounters because bird strikes cause costly damage to jet engines and can lead to crashes. Some airports employ trained dogs, others use loud noises to frighten birds away. A company in the Netherlands says its robotic predator Robird…
read moreThe U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in May, sending the unemployment rate to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. The Labor Department says hourly wages also grew, bumping average worker pay up 2.7 percent from this time last year. And yet, despite the improving job picture, economists say there may be dark clouds forming on…
read moreGoogle says it will not extend a contract into next year to help the U.S. military analyze drone videos following complaints from company employees. U.S. media reports said Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., told Google employees about the decision Friday. The development was first reported by tech publication Gizmodo. Google employees say the tech giant…
read moreTurkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Monday amid souring relations between the NATO allies and trading partners over economic and other issues. The talks come as Turkish sectors, such as the major steel industry, reel from the higher tariffs imposed by the…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump on Friday met for 80 minutes in the Oval Office with a general he described as the second most powerful man in North Korea. Afterward, Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn that the June 12 summit in Singapore between him and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, was…
read moreU.S. employers extended a streak of solid hiring in May, adding 223,000 jobs and helping lower the unemployment rate to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. The Labor Department says average hourly pay rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, a slightly faster annual rate than in April. But pay growth remains below levels…
read moreSome U.S. trading partners are vowing to retaliate against U.S interests over President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico beginning on Friday. …
read moreSeeking to comfort grieving families and shaken survivors, President Donald Trump spent more than an hour privately Thursday with some of those touched by a Texas mass school shooting that killed 10 and wounded more than a dozen on May 18. The latest spasm of violence in a year marred by assaults on the nation’s…
read moreSeeking to comfort grieving families and shaken survivors, President Donald Trump spent more than an hour privately Thursday with some of those touched by a Texas mass school shooting that killed 10 and wounded more than a dozen on May 18. The latest spasm of violence in a year marred by assaults on the nation’s…
read more
