Euro healing, but still distant No. 2 to dollar

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ― International investors are regaining their appetite for euros as the shared currency recovers from a debt crisis that threatened to break it up. But the euro, which is shared by 18 countries, fell further behind the U.S. dollar last year in another key measure of importance and prestige: its use as a reserve currency by the world’s central banks. The European Central Bank said Wednesday that foreign demand for stocks, bonds and other portfolio investments in euros rose

July 17, 2014

BRICS create own development bank

FORTALEZA, Brazil (AFP) ― The BRICS group of emerging powers on Tuesday created a Shanghai-based development bank and a reserve fund seen as alternatives to Western-led institutions.The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed to launch the institutions to finance infrastructure projects and head off future economic crises.“We took the historic decision to create the BRICS bank and the reserve agreement ― an important contribution to reconfigure the system of international

July 16, 2014

[Graphic News] ‘BRICS’ nations create ‘mini-IMF’

The leaders of five emerging market powers said at a summit Tuesday that they gave final agreement to creating their own development bank worth $100 billion that will have its headquarters in China.The first president of the New Development Bank will be from India and the position will rotate every five years among Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa ― the so-called BRICS nations ― a joint statement from the leaders said.The capital for the bank will be split equally among the five par

July 16, 2014

Apple and IBM team up on mobile devices for business

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Apple and IBM unveiled a “landmark” partnership Tuesday to win over business customers by offering iPhones and iPads that are specially tailored to the enterprise users. The tie-up, which aims to boost Apple’s share of the market for mobile devices for businesses, will offer custom-made apps which bring the power of IBM’s supercomputing analytics to a mobile workforce, a joint statement said.“The landmark partnership aims to redefine the way work will get done, address key indus

July 16, 2014

Rate hike sooner if jobs recovery holds

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The Federal Reserve could raise its key interest rate sooner than expected if the job market continues to make solid improvement, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday.“Although the economy continues to improve, the recovery is not yet complete,” Yellen said in the Fed’s semi-annual report to Congress.Warning against “false dawns” in the five-year-old dragging recovery from the Great Recession, Yellen said the economy was moving toward the Fed’s dual goals of maximum employment

July 16, 2014

Obama administration seeks curbs on offshore tax deals

The Obama administration called for immediate congressional action to stop U.S. companies from using cross-border mergers to escape the country’s tax system, the latest trend in corporate deal-making. In a letter calling for a “new sense of economic patriotism,” Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Congress should approve tax changes retroactive to May. “We should prevent companies from effectively renouncing their citizenship to get out of paying taxes,” Lew wrote in the letter to top congressiona

July 16, 2014

China’s economic growth accelerates to 7.5% in Q2

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s economic growth hit 7.5 percent year-on-year in April-June, official data showed Wednesday, ahead of expectations as the world’s second-largest economy was boosted by government stimulus.The second-quarter figure announced by the National Bureau of Statistics compared with 7.4 percent in the previous three months and exceeded the median forecast of 7.4 percent in a survey of 17 economists by AFP.“Generally speaking, China’s economy showed good momentum of stable and moder

July 16, 2014

Airbus launches ‘neo’ at Farnborough

FARNBOROUGH, England (AFP) ― European planemaker Airbus on Monday launched the eagerly-awaited upgrade of its long-haul A330 passenger jet ― the A330neo ― to meet rising demand for cheaper, more fuel-efficient travel.The decision to upgrade the A330 with new Rolls-Royce engines was announced on the first day of the Farnborough airshow, a key biennial event in the aviation calendar held near London which sees Airbus battle with rival U.S. giant Boeing for orders. Eric Schulz (left), president of

July 15, 2014

VW to build new SUV in Tennessee, add 2,000 jobs

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) ― Volkswagen plans to build a new seven-passenger SUV at its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, adding about 2,000 factory jobs as it tries to reverse U.S. sales that have fallen for the past two years. The German automaker announced Monday that it will invest $600 million to expand the factory and set up a new research center that will employ about 200 engineers. The research facility will coordinate products for North America to quickly include customer feedback into

July 15, 2014

BRICS plan their own WB, IMF

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Fed up with U.S. dominance of the global financial system, five emerging market powers this week will launch their own versions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa ― the so-called BRICS countries ― are seeking “alternatives to the existing world order,” said Harold Trinkunas, director of the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution. At a summit Tuesday through Thursday in Brazil, the five countries wi

July 15, 2014

Citigroup to pay $7b to settle U.S. mortgage claims

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Citigroup will pay $7 billion to settle claims it misled investors about mortgage-linked securities ahead of the financial crisis in the latest U.S. crackdown on a banking giant, officials said Monday. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, calling Citi’s conduct “egregious,” said the investigations showed the bank concealed defects in loans, misrepresented facts ― including the level of risk in mortgages ― and made false statements to investors.Citigroup acknowledged its misdeeds u

July 15, 2014

BOJ keeps prediction of inflation accelerating toward 2% target

Pedestrians walk past the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. (Bloomberg)The Bank of Japan kept its record stimulus unchanged and forecast inflation will pick up to its 2 percent price target. The central bank stuck with its goal of an annual increase in the monetary base of between 60 trillion yen and 70 trillion yen ($590 billion to $690 billion), it said in a statement Tuesday in Tokyo, as forecast by all 34 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Consumer prices excluding fresh food will ris

July 15, 2014

Draghi: Stronger euro could hurt recovery

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ― European Central Bank head Mario Draghi said Monday that a stronger euro would put at risk the shaky recovery in the 18 countries that use the shared currency. Draghi made the remark to legislators in the European Parliament in Strasbourg amid worries that the modest rebound in Europe is stalling. Data showed industrial production fell by 1.1 percent in May in the currency zone. A stronger euro would hurt export-dependent businesses. However Draghi offered no new steps

July 15, 2014

Got a rash? iPad, other devices might be the cause

CHICAGO (AP) ― Unexplained rash? Check your iPad. It turns out the popular tablet computer may contain nickel, one of the most common allergy-inducing metals.Recent reports in medical journals detail nickel allergies from a variety of personal electronic devices, including laptops and cellphones. But it was an Apple iPad that caused an itchy body rash in an 11-year-old boy recently treated at a San Diego hospital, according to a report in Monday’s Pediatrics.Nickel rashes aren’t life-threatening

July 15, 2014

F-35 absent from Farnborough, Airbus eyes plane revamp

FARNBOROUGH, England (AFP) ― The Farnborough airshow opens Monday with the non-appearance of the stricken U.S.-built F-35 fighter jet overshadowing the traditional battle for plane orders between titans Airbus and Boeing.The F-35 stealth, whose entire fleet was grounded in the United States last week because of an engine fire, will not appear as planned on the airshow’s first day but may still take part at the end of the week, organizers said. The key biennial event in the aviation sector calend

July 14, 2014