Politics

The White House is planning to investigate China for unfair trade practices — specifically over intellectual property, or IP. U.S. companies that want to do business in China often have to turn over their IP in order to do so — plans, blueprints and technical specifications. The longstanding allegation is that Chinese companies then steal […]

Two cases of illegal payments and bribery came to light recently. One is against the oil services company Halliburton in Angola. The other involves a mining subsidiary of Glencore doing business in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With government heavily involved and centralizing many so-called extractive industries, drilling and mining are more prone to corruption […]

With the drama around health care refusing to die, legislators already have begun the next big policy effort on the Hill: tax reform. Congressional Republican leaders last week laid out what they want — permanent tax reductions is what it boils down to. And conservative organizations and grassroots groups are getting ready to blast Congress […]

Tomorrow , the Senate subcommittee that oversees the EPA’s Superfund program is scheduled to hold a hearing on the program’s work. That’s the initiative, begun in 1980, that cleans up sites contaminated with hazardous materials. Under EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency is refocusing its attention toward environmental cleanups. But that doesn’t necessarily mean many […]

There’s an election in Venezuela this Sunday that’s bringing the years of political and economic crisis to a head. Venezuela has suffered through general strikes and economic downturn, with skyrocketing inflation rates. And more than 100 people have been killed in violence related to political protests since April. Now President Nicolas Maduro wants to elect a new national […]

Venezuelans head to the polls on Sunday to elect members for a “constituent assembly” that would rewrite the country’s 18-year-old constitution. This week, the United States imposed new sanctions on top officials in President Nicolas Maduro’s government to try to stop the rewrite.  Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, still has pending business with China. His hedge fund firm, SkyBridge Capital, will be sold to a Chinese company, the HNA Group, once regulators sign off. The Wall Street Journal reports the deal could be worth $250 million and that Scaramucci himself stands to earn between $62 […]