Author: Ricardo M. Roper

How's this for déjà vu? Another debt crisis is brewing in Europe. Greece needs European creditors to release cash from a bailout agreed in 2015 so it can make debt repayments, but officials are at loggerheads. Investors are starting to worry, demanding higher returns on Greek debt. Adding to the confusion is a warning from the International Monetary Fund that Greece's debt is unsustainable and on an "explosive" path, an assessment that prevents the fund from participating in a rescue. The timing could hardly be worse. European leaders have a lot on their plate. Elections are looming in the Netherlands, France and Germany. Brexit negotiations will begin within weeks. Yet the threat of Greece tumbling out of the euro demands attention. Here's why the next few weeks will...

More and more business leaders and Wall Street strategists are expressing their worries about what President Donald Trump's protectionist policies and unpredictable nature might do to the markets and economy. But we all know that action speaks louder than words. What investors are actually doing is in stark contrast to what people are saying. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit all-time highs again on Friday. And the Russell 2000, an index of small company stocks that tend to do most of their business in the U.S., is now just a few points away from the all-time high it hit last December in the wake of Trump market euphoria. What's more, the VIX (VIX), a measure of volatility known as Wall Street's fear gauge, is down nearly 25% this year as well. If investors were reall...

At his pediatrics practice in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Dr. Alaa Al Nofal sees up to 10 patients a day. He's known some of them since they were born. Others, he still treats after they've graduated from high school. "I treat these children for Type 1 diabetes, thyroid problems, thyroid cancer, puberty disorders and adrenal gland diseases," he said. Al Nofal's expertise is critical. He is one of just five full-time pediatric endocrinologists in a 150,000 square-mile area that covers both South and North Dakota. Like most of rural America, it's a region plagued by a shortage of doctors. "We're very lucky to have Dr. Al Nofal here. We can't afford to lose someone with his specialization," said Cindy Morrison, chief marketing officer for Sanford Health, a non-profit heal...

Nike says it's time to stand up for equality in a new ad campaign. The company on Sunday launched a star-studded short film titled "Equality" to mark Black History Month. The ad features Nike-sponsored athletes LeBron James, Serena Williams, Kevin Durant, Gabby Douglas, among others, "amplifying their voices in an effort to uplift, open eyes and bring the positive values that sport can represent into wider focus," the company said. Actor Michael B. Jordan voices the film, and singer Alicia Keys performs a rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come." "Is this the land history promised?" Jordan says. "Here, within these lines, on this concrete court, this patch of turf, here, you're defined by your actions -- not your looks or beliefs." Nike will feature ads ...

Apple CEO Tim Cook wants the tech industry to take action against "fake news" stories that are polluting the web. "There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic," Cook said in a rare interview. Speaking with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Cook also said "all of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news." Other leading tech company CEOs, like Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, have spoken about the problem in recent months. But Cook's comments were much more frank. According to the Telegraph, he said made-up stories and hoaxes are "killing people's minds." And he called the "fake news" plague "a big problem in a lot of the world." The term "fake news" was originally coined to describe ...

Steven Mnuchin had a pretty good weekend. First the treasury secretary pick advanced a step closer toward confirmation on Friday. Then his latest movie claimed the top spot at the box office. Mnuchin is an executive producer on Warner Bros.' "The Lego Batman Movie," which pulled in an estimated $55.6 million from U.S. audiences during its opening weekend. CNN, like Warner Bros., is owned by Time Warner. The kid-friendly spinoff of 2014's "The Lego Movie" handily beat its raunchy competitor, Universal's "Fifty Shades Darker." The sequel to 2015's "Fifty Shades of Grey," based on a best-selling series of romance novels, debuted at $46.8 million in the United States. Related: Possible pick for Treasury secretary makes his film debut Mnuchin is listed as a produc...

To tackle Thailand's mounting trash problem, one company is turning to the country's plant life. Universal Biopack makes packaging that it sells to restaurants and manufacturers. But rather than plastic, it uses a mixture of bamboo and cassava, crops that are widely found across the country. After growing rapidly in recent decades, Thailand has become one of Asia's biggest economies. But like many other countries in the region, it's been slow to try to combat the millions of tons of trash produced each year. "Waste management is a big problem everywhere," said Universal Biopack's managing director, Vara-Anong Vichakyothin. Related: The company turning 4 billion plastic bottles into clothes The company is using a technology devised at a Bangkok university to make it...

Verizon (VZ) is bringing back an unlimited data plan. Starting Monday, Verizon customers can get unlimited data, talk and text for $80. The company says the new introductory plan also includes up to 10 GB of mobile hotspot usage, as well as calling and texting to Mexico and Canada. It will also allow customers to stream unlimited HD video, thumbing its nose at T-Mobile's controversial practice of lowering video quality for some of its unlimited data customers. Although the new Verizon plan promises "fast LTE speeds," those using a lot of data may suffer. The company said that after a customer uses 22 gb of data on a line during any billing cycle, it "may prioritize usage behind other customers in the event of network congestion." That has become standard practice on all...

Uber's top rival in India has some unsolicited advice for the U.S. startup: Go local. "They have a very cookie-cutter approach in terms of what the model is and how [to] force feed it into any geography," Pranay Jivrajka, a top executive at Ola Cabs, said on the sidelines of CNN's Asia Business Forum in Bangalore. Jivrajka, who until recently served as Ola's COO, said that Uber should ditch its one-size-fits-all approach and instead try to understand "local nuances" that would help it to identify services that "users and drivers actually want." Uber declined to comment on Jivrajka's remarks. Uber and Ola have for years waged a bitter battle for supremacy in India, a market with 1.3 billion potential customers. The country has taken on increased significance for Uber a...

It's a good day for OPEC. Data published Monday by the oil cartel show its members have largely complied with an agreement to slash production. The confirmation caps a remarkable year for OPEC, which was forced to devise a plan to boost prices after they fell to $26 per barrel in February 2016. The price collapse -- to levels not seen since 2003 -- was caused by months of growing oversupply, slowing demand from China and a decision by Western powers to lift Iran's nuclear sanctions. Since then, the market has mounted a stunning turnaround, with crude prices doubling to trade at $53.50 per barrel. Here's how major oil producers worked together to push prices higher: OPEC deal OPEC agreed major production cuts in November, hoping to tame the global oil oversupply...