Hotels offer congee and other Chinese staples for room service. Casinos train staff members on Chinese etiquette. Restaurants, tourist sights and shopping malls translate signs, menus and information booklets into Mandarin. The American hospitality industry is stepping up efforts to make Chinese visitors feel more welcome, since they are projected …

Friday marked the end of the week, the month and the first fiscal quarter of 2017. The first-quarter statistics were pretty impressive with the NASDAQ Composite delivering the best return of the three main indices of nearly 10 percent as the index broke through another record high on Friday, led …

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and daughter are holding onto scores of real estate investments — part of a portfolio of at least $240 million in assets — while they serve in White House jobs, according to financial disclosures released publicly late Friday. Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser, resigned from more …

President Donald Trump talked tough on trade on the campaign trail, vowing to renegotiate a slew of major deals and to label China a currency manipulator on “Day One.” Now his administration appears to be taking a more cautious approach. On Friday, the president will sign a pair of executive …

Hundreds of ships are switching off their tracking devices and taking unexplained routes, raising concern the trafficking of arms, migrants and drugs is going undetected. Ninety percent of the world’s trade is carried by sea. Every vessel has an identification number administered by the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization or …

Hundreds of ships are switching off their tracking devices and taking unexplained routes, raising concern that the trafficking of arms, migrants and drugs is going undetected. New technology enables authorities to follow the routes of suspect vessels, but security experts say taking on the smugglers will require greater coordination. Henry …

Zambia is attempting to convert the nation to energy-saving light emitting diode (LED) lightbulbs to help plug crippling power shortages that have hit mining and agriculture and imposed daily rationing on parts of the country. If all homes and industries switch to the longer-lasting bulbs, the country could save up …

Several environmental groups filed lawsuits against the Trump administration on Thursday to challenge its decision to approve construction of TransCanada Corp’s controversial Keystone XL crude oil pipeline. In two separate filings to a federal court in Montana, environmental groups argued that the U.S. State Department, which granted the permit needed …

Nearly all of New York City’s millionaires would receive big tax cuts under President Donald Trump’s proposed tax overhaul, while more than one-third of moderate- and middle-income families would face increases, according to a government report issued Thursday. City Comptroller Scott Stringer said Trump’s overall plan, as proposed during the …

While the Trump administration explores options to curb North Korea’s nuclear development, efforts are under way in Congress to push for additional sanctions against the regime. The move comes amid growing speculation that the isolated state may soon conduct another nuclear test. South Korea believes North Korea is ready to …

Qatar on Thursday denied it was violating a new labor law by blocking migrants from leaving the country, saying it was committed to enforcing reforms to improve the rights of millions of foreign workers. A new law making it easier for migrants to change jobs and leave the oil-rich Gulf …

Chile’s president criticized isolationist foreign policies and protectionism in trade Thursday, saying during a state visit to Portugal that multilateralism is “crucial” to address global challenges. Michelle Bachelet said during a news conference that “we must have coordinated and cooperative responses to make the voices of the many heard.” She …

The priorities laid out in President Donald Trump’s budget message have some small business owners strategizing how they might benefit from a big boost in defense spending, and others thinking about how to make up for revenue they could lose to cuts in grant programs and subsidies. While Trump’s plan, …

Qatar Airways is offering loaner laptops to its business class passengers in the wake of a U.S. ban on them on flights from several countries. “As an award-winning and global airline we truly appreciate the importance of being able to work on board our aircraft and that is why I …

The U.S. National Hockey League (NHL) has become the latest major sports league to attempt to tap into the lucrative Chinese market. The NHL announced it will hold two pre-season games in China, September 21 and 23 in Shanghai and Beijing, between the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks.   …

U.S. economic growth was a little stronger that first thought in the last few months of 2016. Thursday’s updated report from the Commerce Department says the economy grew at a 2.1 percent annual rate in October, November and December.  Growth was helped by stronger consumer spending. PNC Bank economist Gus …

A group of strawberry pickers from Bangladesh has won a case against Greece at Europe’s highest human rights court, after being shot at by employers for demanding unpaid wages. The Council of Europe’s Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday in favor of 42 Bangladeshi nationals, and ordered the Greek state …

A Native American tribe in Montana filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Wednesday, challenging its decision to lift a moratorium on coal leases on public land without first consulting with tribal leaders. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe, located in southern Montana, said the administration lifted the moratorium without hearing the …

Workplaces have become less civil spaces than they once were. People don’t say please and thank you. Employees send e-mails and texts during meetings, ignoring the speaker and tuning out of the discussion. Others take too much credit for collaborative work.  The nasty looks and belittling comments reached a point …

El Salvador’s Congress on Wednesday approved a law prohibiting all metal mining projects in a bid to protect the poor Central American country’s environment and natural resources. The new law, which enjoyed cross-party support from 70 lawmakers, blocks all exploration, extraction and processing of metals, whether in open pits or …

Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a prominent ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came to New York this week to school investors on his state bank’s plans to sell new dollar bonds. Instead, he was placed under arrest by U.S. authorities and accused of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions …

Farmers around the world are using an unsustainable amount of well water to irrigate their crops, which could lead to an uptick in food prices as that water runs low, international researchers warned Wednesday. Farmers are increasing their use of groundwater to grow staple crops such as rice, wheat and …

Venezuela has arrested a senior manager of state oil company PDVSA on suspicion of “irregularities” in contracts to supply fuel to the domestic market, authorities said on Wednesday. The detention of international commerce manager Marco Malave, 47, followed a shakeup of personnel at PDVSA’s trade department since January and amid …

A study by U.S. economic experts and a major health insurance company says a healthy population is a key ingredient in a healthy and growing economy. Blue Cross and Moody’s Analytics used data from millions of insurance customers to draw a statistical relationship between health and prosperity in the United …

A study that measures the human toll of air pollution from global manufacturing and trade demonstrates how buying goods made far away can lead to premature deaths both there and close to home. Each year, more than 750,000 people die prematurely from dirty air generated by making goods in one …