Business

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrived in Washington D.C. on Monday afternoon for the upcoming high-level economic and trade consultations with the U.S. side.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, leads a delegation with members from major economic sectors of the Chinese government.

Kolkata, Jan 28 (PTI) Six publishers of Pakistan had evinced interest in participating in the 43rd International Kolkata Book Fair to be inaugurated on Thursday, but they would not be able to do it because of visa issues, organisers said here Monday.

A total of 26 countries from across the world will be attending the book fair which will witness participation of authors from Russia, Costa Rica, Spain, Scotland, Australia, Argentina, Bangladesh and this year's theme country Guatemala.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — As the Trump administration rolls back environmental and safety rules for the energy sector, government projections show billions of dollars in savings reaped by companies will come at a steep cost: more premature deaths and illnesses from air pollution, a jump in climate-warming emissions and more severe derailments of trains carrying explosive fuels.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said the odds congressional negotiators will craft a deal to end his border wall standoff with Congress are “less than 50-50.”

As hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers prepared to return to work, Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he doesn’t think the negotiators will strike a deal that he’d accept. He pledged to build a wall anyway using his executive powers to declare a national emergency if necessary.

27 Jan 2019; AFP: The US Federal Reserve will hold its fire this week, leaving interest rates untouched and letting markets calm down after a tumultuous end to 2018.

Coming off Wall Street's worst December since the Great Depression and amid mounting fears about the global economy, Fed policymakers are now unanimously hammering a single message: they will be "patient" before pulling the trigger again.

Boom times in many global real estate markets are turning to bust. Australia, several Asian countries and North America are starting to see large price corrections that are leaving speculators racing for cover.

Australia's housing market is witnessing its steepest annual fall in 15 years.

28 Jan 2019; DW: The US has lifted sanctions on aluminum giant Rusal and two other firms linked to billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who had ties to former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort. The move came despite objections from Congress.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- More than 6 in 10 U.S. citizens believe their country is heading in the wrong direction, while nearly 7 in 10 gave negative opinions on the state of the country, a poll found Sunday.

The poll, released by NBC News/Wall Street Journal, showed that 63 percent of respondents said the United States is heading off on the wrong track, while 28 percent say the opposite.

Records showed that the percentage of people who believe the country in the right direction is the lowest since July 2016.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — More than 25,000 Mexican workers at dozens of factories south of Brownsville, Texas, went on strike Friday after owners of the plants that assemble for export refused union demands for a 20 percent pay hike and an annual bonus.

The Union of Maquiladora Industry Industrial Workers of Matamoros, the SJOIIM, said that by late Saturday nine companies had agreed to meet the salary and bonus demands.

Union leader Juan Villafuerte thanked union members who had stood outside in the rain and cold, noting “we hope to soon conclude this labor action.”

CAIRO (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is headed to Egypt with a large delegation on a three-day trip to reinforce ties with the Arab world’s most populous country.

He arrives Sunday in the country’s south to visit the temple of Abu Simbel and other archaeological sites, before meeting his counterpart Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and signing accords between the two states on Monday.