Author: News Room

At the United States Agency for International Development, thousands of workers have been fired or put on administrative leave and many of its projects addressing global issues like health, hunger and education have been halted.Now, a former Goldman Sachs analyst and son of a private equity billionaire has ambitions to control some of U.S.A.I.D.’s roughly $40 billion budget and apply more of a “pro-market” approach to supporting development in other countries.Benjamin Black, 40, has been nominated by President Trump to run the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, a little-known agency that invests and lends billions each year to companies and…

“They have very good rare earth”Ukraine has finally struck a deal to share revenue from mineral sources with the United States, following weeks of sometimes tense negotiations punctuated by insults and threats by President Trump.What Trump proclaimed as a “very big deal” is indeed noteworthy — both in terms of how his administration is looking to profit from supporting Ukraine and how he is increasingly focusing on strategic nonpetroleum resources as a geopolitical goal.What we know so far: Ukraine would contribute 50 percent of proceeds from the “future monetization” of mineral sales to a fund in which the United States…

Shortly after taking office for the second time, President Trump began making deep cuts to agencies and programs that play critical roles in human health, slashing funding for medical research, halting global health aid and firing scores of workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.But the campaign to downsize government, which has been led by Mr. Trump and Elon Musk, has also hollowed out agencies and programs devoted to protecting plant and animal health. The recent wave of mass firings hit federal workers responding to the nation’s growing bird flu outbreak, protecting crops from damaging pests and ensuring…

President Trump’s tough talk on China typically centers on tariffs. But a closer look at the decisions he has made since taking office shows that the president is considering a far wider set of economic restrictions on Beijing, ones that could hasten America’s split from a critical trading partner.The Trump administration has so far proposed expanding restrictions on investments flowing between the United States and China. It has appointed officials who, because of national security concerns, are likely to push for more curbs on Chinese investments and technology sales to China. And Mr. Trump has ushered in a 10 percent…

BP, the energy giant, on Wednesday said it would increase spending on oil and gas while sharply paring back investments on various forms of clean energy.The move appears to be a response to a combination of investor pressure for higher returns and a realization that the so-called energy transition to cleaner fuels is not paying off as once expected.“Today, we have fundamentally reset BP’s strategy,” Murray Auchincloss, BP’s chief executive, said in a statement.BP said it would increase oil and gas investment to around $10 billion per year in order to bolster output, while cutting spending on renewables to between…

The Trump administration has opened a broad new front in its global trade conflict, proposing to affix levies reaching $1.5 million on Chinese-made ships arriving at American ports.Such fees would apply even on vessels made elsewhere if they are operated by carriers whose fleets include Chinese ships — an approach that risks increasing costs on an array of imported cargo, from raw materials to factory goods.Given their potential to increase consumer prices, the levies could collide with President Trump’s promises to attack inflation. Nearly 80 percent of American foreign trade by weight is transported by ship, yet less than 2…

Dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts voted in favor of a new contract on Tuesday, ending labor turbulence at ports that handle a large share of U.S. trade with the rest of the world.The dockworkers’ union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, said nearly 99 percent of its members had supported the contract, which raises wages 62 percent over six years and guarantees jobs when employers introduce technology that can move cargo autonomously.The deal was reached after a short strike in October, the first full-scale walkout since 1977, and the intervention of two U.S. presidents.Officials from the Biden administration pushed the…

Fresh off the worst inflation shock in decades, Americans are once again bracing for higher prices.Expectations about future inflation have started to move up, according to metrics closely watched by officials at the Federal Reserve. So far, the data, including a consumer survey from the University of Michigan and market-based measures of investors’ expectations, does not suggest that price pressures are perceived to be on the verge of spiraling out of control.But the recent jump has been significant enough to warrant attention, stoking yet more uncertainty about an economic outlook already clouded by President Trump’s ever-evolving approach to trade, immigration,…

Shares of Tesla had been on a tear since Donald J. Trump won the presidential election. Investors were betting that the carmaker would benefit from the more than $250 million that its chief executive, Elon Musk, spent to support the Trump campaign.But an 8 percent decline in Tesla’s stock on Tuesday all but wiped out what was left of that rally. Investors who once thought that Mr. Trump could help clear regulatory hurdles for Tesla autonomous driving technology have grown concerned that Mr. Musk is spending too much time in Washington while Tesla sales plummet.They also worry that Mr. Musk’s…

New York Public Radio said on Tuesday that it would lay off about 7 percent of its staff as it continued to struggle with a financial shortfall.Twenty-one full-time roles will be eliminated, with three of them becoming part time, the chief executive, LaFontaine Oliver, said in an email to the staff. Seven open roles will also be eliminated.New York Public Radio operates the WNYC news station and WNYC studios, the Gothamist local news website, the classical music station WQXR, New Jersey Public Radio and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space.“We hold a singular place on the local media landscape, and…