The White House on Tuesday strongly denied that the special prosecutor looking into alleged Russian interference in last year’s election has asked a German bank for records relating to accounts held by Donald Trump and his family members. “We’ve confirmed this with the bank and other sources” that it is …

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed an agreement Tuesday to extend a railroad connecting the two countries in a move that may eventually give Uzbekistan a direct link to seaports. Landlocked Uzbekistan’s access to marine shipping is very limited. In 2011, the Uzbek state railway company, Ozbekiston Temir Yollari, built a short link …

The European Union named and shamed 17 states that it accuses of being tax havens Tuesday, and put another 47 countries on notice that they risk being blacklisted, too, unless they start tackling tax evasion. The blacklist was agreed on after 10 months of investigations and diplomatic wrangling, but transparency …

Special prosecutor Robert Mueller, investigating Russian meddling in last year’s U.S. election, is now also looking at the financial affairs of President Donald Trump. Mueller is examining records about hundreds of millions of dollars in loans Deutsche Bank made to Trump’s vast real estate empire, according to media reports. Mueller …

In the wake of a deadly fire that killed 19 people, nearly half of them children, authorities in Beijing have launched a sweeping campaign in the name of safety that has seen tens of thousands of migrant workers evicted from their residences. The purge is still going on and is …

The government of Brazil’s President Michel Temer is far from assembling the coalition needed to pass a landmark pension reform, but potential supporters of the measure are now more organized, a key legislator said on Monday. “We’re still enormously far (from having the needed votes), but we have a party …

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says his government will launch a cryptocurrency (digital currency) to circumvent what he called a financial “blockade” by the U.S. government. The new currency will be called the “petro,” the leftist leader said in his TV address Sunday, and will be backed by the socialist-run, OPEC …

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday gained more powers over the OPEC member’s oil contracts, as a deepening purge looks set to strengthen the leftist leader’s control of the key energy sector amid a debilitating recession. A months-long crackdown on alleged graft in Venezuela’s oil industry has led to the …

A committee exploring the effects of recreational marijuana on Nevada’s gambling industry is wrestling with how the state’s casinos might deal with the pot business while not running afoul of federal law. Lured by a potential economic impact in the tens of millions of dollars, Gov. Brian Sandoval’s Gaming Policy …

Liz Whitehurst dabbled in several careers before she ended up on a Maryland farm, crating fistfuls of fresh-cut arugula in the November chill. The hours were better at her nonprofit jobs. So were the benefits. But two years ago, Whitehurst, 32 — who graduated from a liberal arts college and grew …

The city of Zibo, China’s ceramics capital, is undergoing environmental shock therapy to clear its filthy skies and transform its economy — and not everyone is happy. Much of Zibo’s sprawling industrial district has become a ghost town of shuttered factories, empty showrooms and abandoned restaurants after a cleanup campaign …

Every year, the festive holiday windows of New York City’s department stores draw fans from near and far. Tina Trinh reports. …

Greece’s finance minister said Saturday that an agreement had been reached between the heavily indebted country and its creditors on its progress in implementing reforms. The agreement on the so-called Third Assessment of Greece’s latest bailout program will allow Greece to receive fresh funds next year, after implementing workplace reforms, …

Airlines canceled more flights leaving the Indonesian island of Bali on Saturday, citing forecasts of deteriorating flying conditions because of a risk of volcanic ash from the erupting Mount Agung volcano. A Bali airport spokesman said the airport was operating normally, but airlines such as Jetstar and Virgin Australia had …

President Donald Trump’s administration announced Friday that it won’t require mining companies to prove they have the financial wherewithal to clean up their pollution, despite an industry legacy of abandoned mines that have fouled waterways across the U.S.   The move came after mining groups and Western-state Republicans pushed back …

Republicans pushed a nearly $1.5 trillion tax bill through the Senate early Saturday after burst of eleventh-hour horse trading, as a party starved all year for a major legislative triumph took a giant step toward giving President Donald Trump one of his top priorities by Christmas. “Big bills are rarely …

Venezuela has arrested Diego Salazar, a relative of former oil czar Rafael Ramirez, as part of an investigation into a money laundering scandal in Andorra, the South American country’s state prosecutor said on Friday night. President Nicolas Maduro is overseeing what his administration calls a “crusade” against corruption in the …

A Peruvian prosecutor asked a judge to jail executives of three local construction companies that had previously partnered with  Brazilian builder Odebrecht, which has admitted to paying bribes in the country, chief prosecutor Pablo Sanchez said on Friday. Prosecutors started investigating the five executives of Grana y Montero, JJC Contratistas …

Venezuela’s socialist government and its opposition sought Friday to jumpstart negotiations on resolving the country’s economic and political crisis, pressured by international sanctions and a looming presidential election. The planned two-day meetings in the Dominican Republic are the first formal talks since anti-government protests collapsed in July with a toll …

Despite criticism from Washington over Cambodia’s crackdown on the opposition and accusations that the U.S. helped plot Prime Minister Hun Sen’s downfall, U.S. Ambassador William Heidt has said that America’s support for Cambodia’s economy will not be negatively impacted. Heidt told VOA’s Khmer service on Wednesday that the embassy’s mission …

Egyptian billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris condemned on Friday a crackdown on graft in Saudi Arabia, saying the purge had undermined the rule of law in the Kingdom and would deter investment. In unusually outspoken comments, Sawiris, a well-known business figure in North Africa and the Middle East, also accused Qatar …

The United States has formally told the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it opposes granting China market economy status, a position that if upheld would allow Washington to maintain high anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods. The statement of opposition, made public on Thursday, was submitted as a third-party brief in …

Senate Republicans delayed a final vote on an overhaul of the U.S. tax code late Thursday amid furious, behind-the-scenes efforts to fine-tune the legislation to satisfy a small group of fiscal hawks whose support is needed to pass one of President Donald Trump’s core campaign promises. “Senators will continue to …

Venezuela’s Avior Airlines has been banned from European Union skies after a commission determined it no longer meets international safety standards, another blow to troubled nation’s already beleaguered flight industry. The European Commission announced Thursday that Avior had been added to a list of international airlines prohibited from flying within …

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has finally ended In all, 17 named storms swept across the Atlantic this year and 10 rose to hurricane status. But the season will be remembered for the deadly trio — Harvey, Irma and Maria — that brought death and destruction to Caribbean nations and …