WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Senators accused General Motors of “criminal deception” over a decade-long ignition problem linked to 13 deaths, as the U.S. automaker’s boss faced a second straight day of congressional anger Wednesday.Defending her company’s battered reputation, chief executive Mary Barra repeated her pledge that GM will be forthcoming with results of a sweeping internal investigation into what led it to keep using ignition switches it knew were faulty for years, then change the parts withou

April 3, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday that leading nations need to embrace bold policy steps to accelerate a still-modest and fragile global economic recovery. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that as the world still struggles to emerge from the 2008 financial crisis, economies are under threat from tensions involving Ukraine and Russia to inaction in countries that should be driving growth. Lagarde said the European Central Bank, for example,

April 3, 2014

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― The United States stepped up its war of words over Russian gas on Wednesday, while warning its European allies not to count on American gas supplies in the short-term.Speaking ahead of an energy meeting between the United States and the European Union in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that no country should use energy supply as a “political weapon or an instrument for aggression.”  No nation should use energy to stymie a people’s aspirations,” Kerry said, addi

April 3, 2014

BEIJING (AFP) ― China has announced a set of steps to boost slowing growth in the world’s No. 2 economy, including extending tax breaks for small businesses and support measures for poor urban districts.The State Council, China’s cabinet, announced the mini stimulus late Wednesday after a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.Anticipation has been building recently for some kind of action following a string of disappointing economic indicators, including on industrial production and consumer spe

April 3, 2014

DETROIT (AP) ― U.S. auto sales went out like a lion in March.Automakers said Tuesday that new car and truck sales picked up speed halfway through the month, culminating in a strong final weekend. Toyota dealers had their two best sales weekends of the year at the end of the month, the company said.“We’re optimistic that momentum will spring us into April,” said Bill Fay, who manages the Toyota division in the U.S.Industry sales rose 6 percent to 1.5 million vehicles, far outpacing analysts’ expe

April 2, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) ― “That is not how GM does business.” With statements like that, new CEO Mary Barra is trying to distance the General Motors she now leads from the overly bureaucratic company whose inattention to its customers helped land it in bankruptcy in 2009. But it’s clear from her appearance before Congress this week that she faces a difficult task. Documents submitted by GM ahead of a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday show that cost was a major consideration when the company declined a

April 2, 2014

Mark Zuckerberg has decided he’s a $1-a-year man. Zuckerberg, who is Facebook Inc.’s chief executive officer and also the 22nd richest person in the world as ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, was paid $1 in salary for 2013, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday. That’s down from a base salary of $503,205 in 2012, the year that Facebook went public. Zuckerberg is following the well worn path of other Silicon Valley technology moguls who

April 1, 2014

Chinese manufacturing gauges pointed to weakness in the world’s second-biggest economy that could prompt the Communist Party leadership to roll out additional support measures. A Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 48 in March, the lowest reading since July, from 48.5 in February, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said Tuesday. A separate PMI from the government, with a larger sample size, was at 50.3 from 50.2 the previous month. The reports underscore what Premier Li Keqiang last week call

April 1, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen made clear Monday that she thinks the still-subpar U.S. job market will continue to need the help of low interest rates “for some time.”Yellen’s remarks signaled that even after the Fed phases out its monthly bond purchases later this year, it has no plans to raise a key short-term rate anytime soon. The bond purchases have been intended to keep long-term loan rates low.Her remarks sent a reassuring message to investors, many of whom had grown

April 1, 2014

BRUSSELS (AP) ― After breaking out of recession and taming its financial crisis, Europe now faces a new kind of economic threat ― deflation, a protracted drop in prices that can snuff out growth for years.New data released Monday showed the inflation rate fell in March to its lowest level since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, a sign of economic weakness that piles fresh pressure on the European Central Bank to further ease its monetary policies this week.Inflation across the 18-country eu

April 1, 2014

DETROIT (AP) ― General Motors discussed two separate fixes for an ignition switch defect in 2005 but canceled both of them without taking action, according to a memo released Sunday by the House subcommittee investigating GM’s handling of the defect and a subsequent recall. GM last month recalled 2.6 million small cars because their ignition switches can move from the “run” to the “accessory” or “off” position, which causes the car to stall and disables the air bags and power steering. GM says t

March 31, 2014

Almost half of Ukrainians say they desire Ikea products more than any other global brand, yet the largest home-furnishings retailer hasn’t been able to crack the market in a decade of trying. The reason: it won’t pay a bribe. As Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s government rushes to fend off Russia’s expansion and raise the $35 billion it says it needs to avoid default, the country of 45 million faces the more basic problem of rampant graft that no leader has been able to tackle in 23 years of

March 31, 2014

Latin America’s vulnerability to external shocks is greater today than before the 2008 financial crisis because governments have increased spending and companies have taken on more foreign debt to fuel growth, the Inter-American Development Bank said. “History teaches that exits from extremely low U.S. interest rates may be smooth or bumpy,” the IDB said in a report released Sunday at its annual meeting in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. “Changes to the expected path of short-term U.S. interest rates c

March 31, 2014

TOKYO (AP) ― Buy now or pay more later: Japanese retailers are luring customers with promises of steep discounts ahead of a sales tax hike Tuesday that economists expect to slow but not derail the recovery of the world’s third-largest economy. It’s a gamble Japan cannot afford to take, given its soaring public debt.Japan’s sales tax will rise from 5 percent to 8 percent. It is the first such increase since 1997, when the combination of the tax hike, an unwinding of debt from Japan’s bubble econo

March 31, 2014