China says it has no choice but to retaliate to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, risking a further escalation of trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.   In a brief statement posted online Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said, “To protect …

Africa has the globe’s fastest-growing youth population as well as 10 of the poorest countries, a volatile combination that warrants making it “the world’s most important priority for the foreseeable future.” The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation lays out that argument in its second annual report on progress toward sustainable …

The Asian Development Bank said on Tuesday it is expanding its presence in the Pacific islands, at a time of competition for influence there, opening seven new country offices and expecting its loans and grants in the region to top $4 billion by 2020. The pledge from the Japan-led bank …

Francisco Javier Jaramillo and Victor Chavez should be picking sweet potatoes at a North Carolina farm and sending much-needed money to their families in Mexico. Instead, Hurricane Florence has forced the migrant workers to evacuate their farm and seek refuge at a school-turned-shelter near the tiny hamlet of Spivey’s Corner, …

Farmers worry about falling crop prices and lost sales overseas. Manufacturers fear rising costs and new foreign taxes on their exports. American allies overseas are furious.   By any conventional gauge, President Donald Trump’s uncompromising stance toward tariffs and the pain they’ve begun to cause U.S. individuals and companies so …

Cuba moved nearly 15 percent less produce through domestic markets during the first six months of the year, compared with the same period in 2017, signaling another bad year for its agricultural sector, according to a government report. The market sales in the report, issued over the weekend, account for …

President Trump imposed tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of tarrifs Chinese goods coming into the U.S., continuing an ongoing trade war between the two countries. The new import taxes begin next week and will rise to 25 percent at the end of 2018. According to Reuters, smart watches …

With his popularity ratings in freefall, French President Emmanuel Macron is counting on a rebound in family purchasing power to keep voters from turning against his reforms. Macron’s government has lined up several tax cuts taking effect in the coming months that should boost the closely tracked measure of disposable …

A top economic adviser to President Donald Trump said on Monday he expects U.S. budget deficits of about 4 to 5 percent of the country’s economic output for the next one to two years, adding that there would likely be an effort in 2019 to cut spending on entitlement programs. …

More than half of all workplace tasks will be carried out by machines by 2025, organizers of the Davos economic forum said in a report released Monday that highlights the speed with which the labor market will change in coming years. The World Economic Forum estimates that machines will be …

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund invested $1 billion Monday in an American electric car manufacturer just weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier claimed the kingdom would help his own firm go private. Tesla stock dropped Monday on reaction to the news, the same day that the Saudi fund announced …

Aid money urgently needs to be redirected to the poorest countries in order to reach the United Nations’ goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, according to a report. The London-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) says middle-income countries receive more aid than the 30 poorest nations. It also warns that …

U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed aides to proceed with tariffs on about $200 billion more in Chinese products, despite Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s attempts to restart talks with China about resolving the trade war, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, which had an immediate …

The Turkish central bank caught international markets by surprise Thursday as it aggressively hiked interest rates in an effort to strengthen consumer confidence, stem inflation and rein in the currency crisis.  Interest rates were increased to 24 percent from 17.75 percent, which is more than double the median of investor …

Cuba’s street vendors are bringing back the pregon, the art of singing humorous, rhyming ditties with double entendres about the goods they are selling, with some modernizing the tradition by setting their tunes to reggaeton. The pregon is a centuries-old tradition that has inspired famous songs like “El Manisero” (the …

Even before U.S.-China trade tensions began escalating dramatically, foreign businesses who operate in China were warning about the impact tariffs could have. And now, according to a newly released joint survey from the American Chamber of Commerce in China and AmCham Shanghai, many are already feeling the pinch. More than …

A new report by Transparency International suggests foreign bribery is alive and well.  The report, by the Berlin-based, anti-corruption watchdog, suggests little has changed in recent years in the way governments enforce their anti-bribery laws. Today, only seven major exporting countries actively crack down on companies that offer bribes to …

Labor unions and social groups blocked streets in downtown Buenos Aires on Wednesday, with more marches planned over the days ahead over   austerity measures proposed by the government and backed by the International Monetary Fund. Protesters are angry about the belt-tightening policies, which are cutting services to low-income Argentines already …

The median U.S. household income reached $61,372 last year — its highest level ever, the U.S. Census reported Wednesday. The new median figure, meaning that half of U.S. families earned more money and half less, was a reflection of the robust U.S. economy, the world’s largest, that expanded 4.1 percent …

The Islamic Development Bank has suspended a multimillion-dollar project in Somalia due to accusations of corruption and mismanagement. Started in October 2016, the Dryland Development Project was being conducted in three rural villages to help pastoralists build resilience to drought, give them access to health and education services, and develop …

The Turkish central bank is facing growing pressure to decisively hike interest rates at a meeting Thursday to defend an ailing currency and rein in double-digit inflation.  But concerns remain over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s grip on monetary policy. The Turkish lira has fallen more than 40 percent, much of …

As a migrant worker from Bangladesh, Sharif should be happy about Qatar’s labor reforms, put in place to protect people like him. Instead, he feels the system still allows his employer to get round rules designed to stop them exploiting him. “I don’t feel comfortable complaining because my company could …

It’s hard not to see China wherever you look in Iran. From Chinese goods flooding markets to its business people eager for deals as Western business interests flee, Iran likely will further embrace Beijing as an alternative market for its crude oil and financial transactions amid uncertainty over the nuclear …

South Korea’s unemployment rate hit an eight-year high in August as mandatory minimum wages rose, adding to economic policy frustrations and political challenges for President Moon Jae-in whose approval rating is now at its lowest since inauguration. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent in August from 3.8 percent in …

In Iraq, a major Middle East grain buyer, will cut the irrigated area it plants with wheat by half in the 2018-2019 growing season as water shortages grip the country, a government official told Reuters. Drought and dwindling river flows have already forced Iraq to ban farmers from planting rice …