Equities around the world rose Monday as possible progress in resolving the trade dispute between the United States and China engendered some investor optimism in what has been a punishing end of year for markets. The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 …
Month: December 2018
China’s factory activity shrank in December for the first time in more than two years, an official survey showed Monday, intensifying pressure on Beijing to reverse an economic slowdown as it enters trade talks with the Trump administration. The purchasing …
Kenya’s economy expanded faster in the third quarter of this year than in the same period last year due to strong performance in the agriculture and construction sectors, the statistics office said on Monday. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics …
Nigeria’s campaign to vaccinate more people against yellow fever appears to be making headway. The government is partnering with the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF to immunize more than 26 million people. It is the …
The euro currency turns 20 years old on January 1, surviving two tumultuous decades and becoming the world’s No. 2 currency. After 20 years, the euro has become a fixture in financial markets, although it remains behind the dollar, which …
NASA scientists are getting a very special New Year’s Day gift. The New Horizons spacecraft is moving into unexplored space beyond Neptune to investigate objects so far out in our solar system they can hardly be seen by telescope. As …
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Saturday that he had a “long and very good call” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that a possible trade deal between the United States and China was progressing well. As a …
The World Health Organization says violent protests in DR Congo’s conflict-ridden North Kivu Province are hampering efforts to control the spread of the Ebola virus. Protests erupted Thursday in response to the government’s decision to delay presidential elections in the …
The end of 2018 seemed to signal good things to come for America’s farmers. Fresh off the passage of the farm bill, which reauthorized agriculture, conservation and safety net programs, the Agriculture Department last week announced a second round of …
The storm winds of the recent trade war between the United States and China have settled in a truce for now, but the weeks of agitation — of rising tariffs and counter duties — battered one economy close to Beijing: …
Silicon Valley has enjoyed years of popularity and growing markets. But 2018 has been rocky for the industry. Data breaches, controversies over offensive speech and misinformation — as well as reports of foreign operatives’ use of their services — have …
The five hottest years on record have all taken place this decade, and it looks like 2018 will join their ranks. This year showcased the hazards of climate change, while showing how far the world is from confronting it. VOA’s …
The world’s wildlife remains under increasing pressure because of human encroachment, the effects of climate change and — especially — poaching. It is estimated that the global wildlife trafficking market is worth up to $23 billion. Conservationists are fighting back …
Sears Holdings Corp. Chairman Eddie Lampert submitted a $4.4 billion takeover bid for the bankrupt U.S. retailer, representing its only chance of escaping liquidation and laying off tens of thousands of workers, a spokesman for the billionaire’s hedge fund said …
Progress in fighting Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola outbreak, the second worst ever, will be reversed if fighting continues around the disease hot spots of Beni and Butembo, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday. “We have …
International migrants who relocate to high-income countries to work, study or join family members are less likely to die prematurely than people born in their new homelands, a research review suggests. For the analysis, researchers examined data from 96 studies with mortality estimates for …
Wall Street capped a week of volatile trading Friday with an uneven finish and the market’s first weekly gain since November. Losses in technology, energy and industrial stocks outweighed gains in retailers and other consumer-focused companies. Stocks spent much …
Wells Fargo agreed to a $575 million nationwide settlement over its opening of millions of unauthorized customer accounts and other alleged predatory practices, the bank and U.S. authorities announced Friday. The agreement between the bank and attorneys general from the …
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Friday that the world’s biggest social network has “fundamentally” changed to focus on securing its systems against manipulation and misinformation. Capping a tumultuous year marked by data protection scandals and government probes, Zuckerberg said …
The Trump administration on Friday said limits on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants were no longer necessary as their costs outweighed the benefits, a move environmentalists said was favorable for the coal industry and could increase health hazards. Under …
The U.S. Army is looking for a few good robots. Not to fight — not yet, at least — but to help the men and women who do. These robots aren’t taking up arms, but the companies making them have …
Expect to get caught if you post anti-government material on the internet in Vietnam or take a phishing trip. From 2019 authorities can build evidence against you from material provided by email services and social media networks including Facebook. Yet …
In South Korea’s largest shipyard, thousands of workers in yellow hard hats move ceaselessly between towering cranes lifting hulks of steel. They look like a hive of bees scurrying over a massive circuit board as they weld together the latest …
Wall Street stocks finished solidly higher Thursday following a late-afternoon surge as worries over slowing economic growth gave way to bargain-hunting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 23,138.82, an increase of 1.1 percent and up some 870 points from …