US Mint presses its final penny

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The US ended production of the penny Wednesday, abandoning the 1-cent coins that were embedded in American culture for more than 230 years as symbols of frugality and the price of a person’s thoughts but had become nearly worthless. When it was introduced in 1793, a penny could buy a biscuit, a candle or a piece of candy. Now most of them are cast aside to sit in jars or junk drawers, and each one costs nearly 4 cents to make. “God bless America, and we’re going to save the t

Nov. 13, 2025

Supreme Court keeps block on SNAP payments

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended an order blocking full SNAP payments, amid signals that the government shutdown could soon end and food aid payments resume. The order keeps in place at least for a few more days a chaotic situation. People who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to feed their families in some states have received their full monthly allocations, while others have received nothing. The order, which is three sentences long and comes with no explanation on t

Nov. 12, 2025

US Senate approves bill to end shutdown, sending it to House

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation Monday to reopen the government, bringing the longest shutdown in history closer to an end as a small group of Democrats ratified a deal with Republicans despite searing criticism from within their party. The 41-day shutdown could last a few more days as members of the House, which has been on recess since mid-September, return to Washington to vote on the legislation. President Donald Trump has signaled support for the bill, saying Monday that “we

Nov. 11, 2025

Trump threatens air traffic controllers who fail to return to work

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump on Monday demanded air traffic controllers return to work as travelers endured another day of flight cancellations, which the administration ordered to manage staff shortages during the government shutdown. Trump's comment came after the US aviation system has suffered serious disruptions in recent days as air traffic controller absences soared while they work without pay. Some are absent as they need to work second jobs or cannot afford child ca

Nov. 11, 2025

Japan's rice prices on rise again in test for new prime minister

KISARAZU, Japan (Reuters) -- At a farmer's market not far from Tokyo, more than 100 shoppers queued for a chance to get a kilogram or so of Japanese rice for 500 yen ($3.32) by carefully heaping as much of the grain into a small wooden box as possible. The weekend event was largely a gimmick, but as inflation continues to outpace wage growth it was a chance for some to secure the staple food for about 40 percent less than average retail prices. "When I go shopping I'm shocked at the expenditure,

Nov. 11, 2025

Trump administration demands states 'undo' full SNAP payouts

US President Donald Trump’s administration is demanding states “undo” full SNAP benefits paid out under judges’ orders last week, now that the US Supreme Court has stayed those rulings, marking the latest swing in a seesawing legal battle over the anti-hunger program used by 42 million Americans. The demand from the US Department of Agriculture came as more than two dozen states warned of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the Trump administration does not reimburse them for those SNAP be

Nov. 10, 2025

[Graphic News] Hyundai Motor 33rd in Time’s 2025 best firms, Nvidia at No. 1

Hyundai Motor has been ranked 33rd on Time magazine’s World’s Best Companies 2025 list, making it the only Korean company in the top 100. Time, in collaboration with German data and business information platform Statista, has compiled the list of the top 1,000 global companies annually since 2023. The 2025 ranking was led by Nvidia, Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase, reflecting the dominance of technology and financial firms. Hyundai Motor climbed an impressive 159 spots from No. 192 last year, drive

Nov. 10, 2025

Trump accuses foreign-owned meat packers of inflating US beef prices

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday accused foreign-owned meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the US and asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation. The Republican president announced the move on social media days after his party suffered losses in key elections in which the winning Democratic candidates focused relentlessly on the public’s concerns about the cost of living. But experts said it’s unlikely that an investigation would result in lower prices

Nov. 9, 2025

Industry ministry to invest W300b in innovative R&D projects by 2035

The government plans to spend a combined 302.6 billion won (US$209 million) over the next 10 years on innovation-focused research and development (R&D) projects with high commercialization prospects, the industry ministry said Thursday. The plan was devised to lessen the burden on private companies in developing high-risk, high-potential technologies that could become game changers for future industries, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said. To this end, the ministry will designate

Nov. 6, 2025

Microsoft to invest over $15 billion in UAE

ABU DHABI (Reuters) -- Microsoft plans to bring its total investment in the United Arab Emirates to $15 billion by the end of 2029 and has the Trump administration's approval to export Nvidia chips for its data centers there, a senior executive told Reuters on Monday. The UAE has been spending billions of dollars to become a global artificial intelligence hub, leveraging its close relations with Washington to secure access to US technology, including some of the world's most advanced chips. "The

Nov. 4, 2025

Tariffs are Trump's favorite foreign policy tool

WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Donald Trump sees tariffs — or the threat of them — as a powerful tool to bend nations to his will. He has used them in an unprecedented way, not only as the underpinning of his economic agenda, but also as the cornerstone of his foreign policy in his second term. He has wielded the import taxes as a threat to secure ceasefires from countries at war. He has used them to browbeat nations into promising to do more to stop people and drugs from flowing across their bo

Nov. 3, 2025

World shares, oil prices fall back following Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi

World shares mostly retreated Thursday in choppy trading after President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. While Trump said the meeting was “amazing” and had resolved many issues, investors appeared skeptical. US futures were nearly flat. In early European trading, Germany's Dax rose 0.1 percent to 24,155.02. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent to 9,705.49. In Paris, the CAC 40 slid 0.2 percent to 8,183.55. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index bounced lower and then inched up less than

Oct. 30, 2025

Fed lowers rates, but Powell suggests move may be the last of 2025

WASHINGTON(Reuters) -- A policy divide within the US central bank and a lack of federal government data may put another interest rate cut out of reach this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, as he acknowledged the threats that officials see to the job market but also the risky nature of making further rate moves without a fuller picture of the economy. The Fed on Wednesday cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, as a way to temper any further

Oct. 30, 2025

US Fed will likely cut again despite economic murkiness

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its second rate cut of the year on Wednesday, despite a lack of clarity over the health of the US economy due to the ongoing government shutdown. The US central bank's second-to-last rate meeting of the year is taking place against the backdrop of a weeks-long standoff between Republicans and Democrats over health care subsidies, resulting in a suspension of publication of almost all official data. Without these key insights into th

Oct. 27, 2025

Trump sets 10% tariff hike on Canada

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was increasing tariffs on Canada by an additional 10 percent "above what they're paying now," as he reacted again to an ad by Canada's Ontario province, a day after it was aired during the World Series broadcast. Trump on Thursday ended trade talks with Ottawa over the tariff-related ad, which Trump said was misleading. Trump announced the higher tariffs in a Truth Social post Saturday referencing the ad, which features a video o

Oct. 26, 2025