Author: Fbiz

National leaders may have been the ones to sign the Paris Agreement to combat climate change — but when it comes to putting the deal into effect, “it is cities that drive most of the change,” says Cape Town’s mayor Patricia de Lille. Since taking charge of South Africa’s second biggest city in 2011, her …

A new statue of a resolute young girl now faces Wall Street’s famous Charging Bull, erected by a major asset managing firm for International Women’s Day to make a point: There’s a dearth of women on the boards of the largest U.S. corporations. State Street Global Advisors, the Boston-based investment giant, had the statue created …

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 calling on people to #BeBoldForChange …

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 to emerge from its worst-ever …

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 — has caused many to …

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 are looking for work after …

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 the capital Lilongwe. “So since …

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 as the centre-right candidate, he …

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 a crackdown on loss-posting “zombie …

It may seem odd that the world’s largest land mammal would be afraid of bees, but Kenya-based research and conservation group Save the Elephants has used the elephants’ fear of being stung around the eyes, mouth and trunk to deter them from crop-raiding. It is doing this through “beehive fences,” which they have found to …

Scientists and engineers are constantly looking for more efficient ways to harvest energy from sustainable sources, such as the sun, wind, ocean waves and river flows. Researchers from Brown University have teamed up with a company from Rhode Island to build an innovative power generator suitable for slow-flowing rivers and tidal canals. VOA’s George Putic …

Keeping the Chinese economy steaming ahead is a priority for China’s Communist Party leaders. That issue and others will be topics in the coming days when China hosts high-level political meetings in Beijing. To better understand some of the challenges the world’s second-largest economy faces, VOA’s Bill Ide visited Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province …

China says its defense budget will increase by about 7 percent this year, marking the second year in a row China has kept its military spending to a single digit percentage increase. The exact number for defense spending in 2017 will be released Sunday when parliament begins its annual session. China’s neighbors, however, have become …

Federal law enforcement agents have searched three facilities of the American heavy-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Incorporated in the U.S. Midwest. Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Heck Scott said in an email that the company, the world’s largest manufacturer of mining and construction equipment, was cooperating with law enforcement, but she gave no further details about the searches Thursday. …

Street vendors are a part of the life of many American cities. They’re not always regulated and many are immigrants. Los Angeles is a prime example. Street vending is has been illegal. A number of the vendors there are undocumented immigrants. With hopes to protect them from deportation for breaking the law, the city recently …

Smartphones have replaced lots of other accessories — cameras, flashlights, calculators. But many people are still reluctant to swap the wallets in their pockets for their digital counterparts. A key reason consumers are hesitant to adopt mobile payment systems like Apple Pay and Android Pay, surveys say, is fear about security: High-profile retailer data breaches …

Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson, which President Donald Trump singled out Tuesday when discussing foreign trade barriers, warned earlier this year against responding to such restrictions by imposing higher American tariffs.   Trump said in his speech to Congress that executives from Harley-Davidson told him they have trouble selling motorcycles outside of the United States because of …

Mexico’s Cemex, one of the world’s largest cement producers, is open to providing quotes to supply the raw materials for U.S. President Donald Trump’s promised border wall, its chairman told Reforma newspaper on Wednesday. Trump repeated on Tuesday a vow that he would soon start building a barrier along the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border …

If President Donald Trump’s hardline stance on illegal immigration leads to large-scale deportations, among those hurt could be the U.S. economy. That’s the view of many economists, who say the United States can’t afford to suddenly lose vast numbers of the immigrants who work illegally picking fruit and vegetables, building houses, busing tables, staffing meat-packing …

Vietnam is coming under pressure from lawmakers in Europe to improve its human rights record before ratification of an EU free trade deal that the Communist government prizes after the loss of a major U.S.-led agreement. European Parliament members voiced concerns in late February about Vietnam as its Subcommittee on Human Rights traveled to the …

Greece and its lenders resumed a long-stalled review of its bailout Tuesday, with the government in Athens braced to commit to yet more austerity in exchange for the funds the country needs to remain solvent. The review has dragged on for months, partly because of a rift between the European Union and the International Monetary …

Pakistan’s decision to close the border with Afghanistan was a largely symbolic act aimed at forcing its neighbor to take action against extremist groups blamed for fomenting cross-border terror attacks. It’s a hard reality for the travelers and traders trapped for nearly two weeks on both sides of the dusty crossings at Torkham, Ghulam Khan …

The U.S. economy grew at an anemic 1.9 percent rate in the fourth quarter, unchanged from an initial estimate, although consumers performed better than first thought. The Commerce Department says that the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, increased at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the October-December quarter. That is …

President Donald Trump said he believes the extra $54 billion he has proposed spending on the U.S. military will be offset by a stronger economy as well as cuts in other areas. “I think the money is going to come from a revved up economy,” Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast on Tuesday, …

South Korean special prosecutors said they would indict Samsung’s de facto chief Tuesday on bribery, embezzlement and other charges linked to a political scandal that has toppled President Park Geun-hye. The planned indictment of Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee is a huge hit for the largest and most successful of the big businesses …