No burgers at some China McDonald’s over food scare

SHANGHAI (AFP) ― McDonald’s outlets in Beijing and Shanghai have yanked their flagship burgers off the menu after a key U.S. supplier recalled products made by its Shanghai factory, which is alleged to have used expired meat.Authorities in Shanghai just over a week ago shut a plant owned by privately held OSI Group for mixing out-of-date meat with fresh product and later detained five officials from the OSI subsidiary which operated it, Shanghai Husi Food Co.The factory’s customers in China incl

July 28, 2014

Google triples deal spending to $4.2b in H1

Google Inc. more than tripled spending on acquisitions in the first half of the year to $4.2 billion, as the Internet company ramps up investments to expand its services. The world’s largest online advertiser spent $3.2 billion for thermostat company Nest Labs Inc. in February and an additional $1 billion on other purchases in the first six months of 2014, the California-based Web company said. That’s up from $1.3 billion for the same period a year ago, according to a previous filing. The 2014 n

July 28, 2014

Default looms as Argentina’s debt talks remain deadlocked

NEW YORK (AP) ― Argentina’s negotiations with creditors to resolve a dispute over $1.5 billion in unpaid debts remained deadlocked following talks Friday, setting it on a course for a possible catastrophic default this week.Argentina will default for the second time in 13 years if it cannot reach a deal with the U.S. hedge funds before July 30. Daniel Pollack, the court-appointed mediator in the dispute, met with Argentine officials and in a statement released after the talks said that progress

July 27, 2014

World Bank offers billions in aid to India

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― The World Bank on Wednesday offered India up to $18 billion in financial support over the next three years while lavishly praising new right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “ambitious vision” for the country.Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party was elected in May with the biggest electoral majority in three decades on pledges to revive India’s sluggish economy, ousting the scandal-tainted, left-leaning Congress party.Speaking at the end of a three-day visit to In

July 24, 2014

Argentina president says country will not default

BUENOS AIRES (AP) ― Argentina’s president said Wednesday that her country will not go into default because it has been paying debts to bondholders on time. The government is in negotiations to resolve a dispute with creditors over $1.5 billion in unpaid debts that could lead Argentina to its second default in 13 years. But President Cristina Fernandez said a new term for default will have to be created to call “a debtor who paid and someone who blocked it.” She alluded to a U.S. judge’s order th

July 24, 2014

EU to hit Russian banks over Ukraine: reports

   BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union may go even further than the United States in hitting Russian banks with sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, curbing their ability to raise fresh funds, reports said Thursday.   As member state ambassadors to the EU began a meeting to review the next step, the Financial Times said they would look at proposals to ban Russian banks from selling new shares on European markets.   Citing an options memo, the Financial Times said the new measures would go even fur

July 24, 2014

Chrysler to recall 792,300 SUVs

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Chrysler on Tuesday said it would recall up to 792,300 sport utility vehicles to fix an ignition-switch problem, the same part involved in the massive General Motors recall.The automaker, a subsidiary of Italy-based Fiat Chrysler, said it was issuing the recall “out of an abundance of caution.”Chrysler took the move because ignition keys can be moved unintentionally from the “on” position, causing engine stall, reducing braking power and potentially disabling frontal airbags.C

July 23, 2014

Apple gets smart watch patent

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― A U.S. patent made public on Tuesday bolstered rumors that Apple has designs on a smart watch.“The invention pertains to an electronic wristwatch,” said a summary in Apple patent paperwork on record with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office.The patent describes a wrist band, possible with a touch screen, configured to connect wirelessly to a mobile device such as a smartphone.Disclosure of the patent added fuel to talk that California-based Apple intends to weigh into the bloss

July 23, 2014

China detains five in expired meat scandal

BEIJING (AP) ― Five employees of a company accused of selling expired beef and chicken to McDonald’s, KFC and other restaurants were detained by police Wednesday after an official said illegal activity was an organized effort by the supplier.China’s food safety agency said on its website its investigators found unspecified illegal activity by Husi Food Co. but gave no confirmation expired meat had been found or other details.“We found that some of the illegal conduct was not that of certain indi

July 23, 2014

Switzerland, China agree on swap boosting yuan’s role

GENEVA (AFP) ― The Swiss and Chinese central banks signed a currency swap agreement in Beijing on Monday, marking an important step in the development of a market for yuan in Switzerland, the Swiss central bank BNS said.The agreement, highlighting steps towards international use of the yuan, ensures that Swiss francs will be available in China and that yuan, also known as renminbi, will be supplied to financial centers in Switzerland.The BNS statement said that the agreement was “an important st

July 22, 2014

Bank crisis further rattles Portuguese economy

LISBON (AFP) ― Portuguese Economy Minister Antonio Pires de Lima admitted on Monday that a crisis engulfing the giant Banco Espirito Santo group could affect the country’s recovery, but insisted Portugal’s “upturn is stronger.”“The crisis in the Espirito Santo group will not do us good, but the recovery is stronger and it is there to stay,” he told journalists.The turmoil at Portugal’s largest lender comes at a delicate time for the country, which has just come out of a joint EU-IMF rescue progr

July 22, 2014