The productivity of American workers grew at a slower pace in fourth quarter and last year recorded the smallest annual gain in five years. The Labor Department said Wednesday that productivity grew at a 1.3 percent annual pace from October through December, down from 3.3 percent in the third quarter. …

Home-renting site Airbnb is providing women with a new way to earn money and build businesses with more women than men on the site and women in Kenya gaining the most, the company said on Tuesday. Airbnb said women have outnumbered men using the site since its 2008 launch and …

China has granted preliminary approval for 38 new Trump trademarks, a move that offers a potential business foothold for President Donald Trump’s family company and protects his name in a country notorious for counterfeiters.   The trademarks cover everything from hotels and golf clubs to bodyguard and concierge services, public …

Wednesday March 8 marks International Women’s Day, with festivals, concerts and exhibitions among the numerous events planned around the world to celebrate the achievements of women in society. The annual event has been held since the early 1900s and traditionally promotes a different theme each year, with this year’s edition …

Wednesday March 8 marks International Women’s Day, with festivals, concerts and exhibitions among the numerous events planned around the world to celebrate the achievements of women in society. Reuters photographers have been speaking with women in a range of professions around the world about their experiences of gender inequality. …

Brazil’s President Michel Temer launched an infrastructure concessions program on Tuesday that he said should raise 45 billion reais ($14.43 billion) in investment in building and operating roads, port terminals, railways and power transmission lines. Temer said the program was key to restoring an attractive business environment as Brazil struggles …

The Trump administration is moving to roll back federal fuel-economy requirements that would have forced automakers to increase significantly the efficiency of new cars and trucks, a key part of former President Barack Obama’s strategy to combat global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency is close to an announcement reversing a …

One in five people around the world believe women are inferior to men and should stay at home, and that men are more capable in the workplace and at school, according to a global survey released Tuesday. Nearly all of the 17,550 people surveyed agreed that men and women should …

Workers represented by Argentina’s main labor union gathered on the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to protest job cuts and pay raises that have not kept up with inflation, challenging the government seven months ahead of key congressional elections. The one-day picket, which attracted tens of thousands of demonstrators, …

Hundreds of Egyptians protested around the country on Tuesday, blocking roads and surrounding government offices, after a change to the way bread rations are managed raised fears that the government was cutting food subsidies by the back door. Bread subsidies are an explosive issue in Egypt, where over 70 million …

Brazil’s worst-ever recession intensified unexpectedly in the final quarter of 2016, data showed on Tuesday, frustrating hopes for signs of a recovery and stepping up pressure on President Michel Temer and the central bank to do more to promote growth. Brazil’s gross domestic product contracted by 3.6 percent last year, …

Swiss firms from food and beverage giant Nestle to banking groups UBS and Credit Suisse pledged new goals on Tuesday for supporting and promoting women. While Switzerland has Europe’s second-highest proportion of women in the workforce, it trails global standards on gender diversity in boardrooms and in management positions. Consultancies …

The U.S. trade deficit in January hit the highest level in nearly five years. Tuesday’s report from the Commerce Department says the gap between what Americans sell to foreigners and what U.S. customers buy from overseas grew by 9.6 percent for the month to $48.5 billion. U.S. exports rose six-tenths …

China is trying to implement an ambitious “Made in China, 2025” plan to upgrade technology and product quality in a desperate move to battle rising pollution and falling exports. It is seeking the best technologies from the Western world in areas like new generation Information Technology, semiconductors, robotics, new energy vehicles …

The chairman of China’s biggest beverage maker, Hangzhou Wahaha Group, said the United States would suffer more in any trade war with China, with a loss of access to cheap Chinese-made goods hitting American wallets. U.S. President Donald Trump had campaigned on a promise to confront China more aggressively on …

U.S. President Donald Trump says a new Republican plan to overhaul the country’s national health care system is “wonderful,” but its fate in Congress is uncertain. Trump, in Twitter comments Tuesday, claimed the current law, championed by former President Barack Obama, “is a complete and total disaster” and “is imploding …

More developing countries urgently need insurance to cushion their farmers against weather extremes that can worsen poverty, but it is no magic bullet to ward off the escalating impacts of climate change, experts say. The burning question of how to stop drought becoming a major crisis — especially in Africa …

As China’s economy slows to growth rates not seen in more than a quarter of century, the country’s Communist Party rulers are under increasing pressure to create jobs.   Millions enter the workforce each year, and as China tries to reduce overcapacity in steel and coal industries a growing number …

In Malawi, the head of the former ruling party is expected in court Tuesday on allegations he fraudulently granted citizenship documents to more than 50 foreigners in 2013 when he was minister of home affairs.  Uladi Mussa surrendered himself Monday at the office of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, or ACB, in …

European leaders are pursuing a new tack in their bid to dissuade the Trump administration from pulling out of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. Withdraw and miss out on economic and commercial opportunities in clean growth, the Europeans are warning Washington policy makers. In back channel discussions, the …

The euro fell on Monday after former French prime minister Alain Juppe ruled out standing in the country’s presidential elections, which investors saw as increasing the likelihood of a victory by anti-EU leader Marine Le Pen. A poll on Friday had suggested that if Juppe replaced the scandal-hit Francois Fillon …

China is responding to international criticism that it gives favorable treatment to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) while neglecting of the needs of foreign companies, and even foreign markets that buy Chinese goods. Releasing the annual work report, or budgetary proposals, in the National People’s Congress (NPC), Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signaled …

South Korea’s special prosecutor says the president and a close friend are suspected of taking bribes from Samsung. Special prosecutor Park Young-soo said in a statement Monday the bribes President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sill extracted from Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong are a symbol of a “chronic cycle …

Asia’s tourism industry is booming, buoyed by rising incomes, low-cost air transport, and China’s growing outbound market. But analysts say the rapid expansion is also putting pressure on infrastructure and destinations amid calls to boost spending and better manage tourism ‘flows’ to ensure long term sustainability. John Koldowski, a travel …

China will work to clear its skies by increasing investment in clean energy and punishing polluters, Premier Li Keqiang said Sunday in comments aimed at mollifying public anger over chronic smog. Swathes of northern China were blanketed under toxic smog this winter, affecting more than 100 million people and forcing …