EU again fails to agree on tax evasion law

BRUSSELS (AP) ― The European Union on Tuesday again failed to agree on a key policy to fight tax evasion due to resistance from Luxembourg, a tiny country that has long prospered from its secretive banking culture. The failure is “disappointing” because the legislation on an EU-wide automatic exchange of data on bank deposits would allow governments to “identify and chase up tax evaders,” said EU taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta. Luxembourg, a country of only about half a million people, wa

March 12, 2014

Apple updates iPhone software to fix bugs, add features for cars

Apple Inc. released an update to the software that powers the iPhone and iPad tablet, fixing bugs that caused some customers’ smartphones to crash and implementing some design changes. The release Monday, called iOS 7.1, adds features that will let drivers use iPhones in cars that will be available this year using Apple software. It also gives people new ways to access the Siri voice-recognition tool by holding down the device’s home button, the company said. Last year, Apple rolled out iOS 7, t

March 11, 2014

World’s largest banana firm created

DUBLIN (AP) ― Yes, they have more bananas. Fruit supply companies Chiquita of the United States and Fyffes of Ireland said Monday they had agreed to merge to create the world’s biggest banana supplier. The all-shares agreement means the two companies will become ChiquitaFyffes PLC, be traded on the New York Stock Exchange and be headquartered in Dublin, a more tax-efficient corporate base. The companies said the deal, which requires shareholder and regulatory approval in Ireland and the United S

March 11, 2014

U.S. economy poised for growth, job gains

President Barack Obama’s advisers said the U.S. economy is on track to strengthen and add more jobs in the next two years because many of the impediments to faster growth have subsided. The unemployment rate has dropped to the lowest levels in more than five years, deficits have been cut by more than half, housing is on the rebound, manufacturers are adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s and exports are accelerating, Obama said in an annual economic report to Congress. “After 5 years of

March 11, 2014

World Bank to provide $3b aid to Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The World Bank said Monday it is prepared to offer $3 billion in aid to Ukraine this year to support economic reforms and development by its beleaguered new interim governmentThe Bank received a request from the Kiev authorities, which took power last month after Ukraine’s former Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted.“We are committed to supporting the people of Ukraine in these difficult times and very much hope that the situation in the country stabilizes soo

March 11, 2014

BOJ holds off new easing measures

TOKYO (AFP) ― The Bank of Japan held off launching fresh monetary easing measures Tuesday, saying the economy was picking up, despite slowing growth in the last quarter of 2013 and fears that a looming tax hike will dent the recovery.Policymakers kept in place the central bank’s existing asset-purchasing scheme ― which aims to stoke growth by pumping huge amounts of money into the financial system ― after a two-day policy meeting.“Japan’s economy has continued to recover moderately, and a front-

March 11, 2014

Google to release tools for making apps for wearable computers

Google Inc. is releasing tools for software developers to make applications for wearable-computing devices, trying to repeat the success it’s had with the Android mobile-operating system for gadgets people wear on their bodies. Google senior vice president Sundar Pichai, speaking at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, said the tools will be available in the coming weeks and that the so-called software developer kit will be for more than just wristwatch-like devices. G

March 10, 2014

Japan’s growth slows as sales tax hike looms

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s economic growth in the last quarter of 2013 was weaker than previously thought, revised data showed Monday, underscoring concerns about the pace of recovery driven by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic growth blitz.The fresh figures will turn the focus to Bank of Japan policymakers as they start a two-day meeting, amid speculation over whether they will launch further monetary easing measures to counter a slowdown from a tax rise next month.The rate hike ― seen as crucial

March 10, 2014

[Newsmaker] Bitcoin creator’s identity still a mystery

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The world was little closer to knowing for sure who invented Bitcoin Friday, despite Newsweek’s claim to have unmasked the enigmatic “Satoshi Nakamoto” behind the computer-coded currency.The magazine relaunched its print version with an ostensibly huge scoop, identifying 64-year-old Japanese-American engineer Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto as the creator.But the mystery remained after the apparently retired model train enthusiast from suburban Los Angeles asked a reporter to buy him

March 9, 2014

4 European nations urge U.S. gas exports

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Four Central European nations are urging the United States to boost natural gas exports to Europe as a hedge against the possibility that Russia could cut off its supply of gas to Ukraine.Ambassadors from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic made their appeal Friday in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. A similar letter was expected to be sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.The letter from the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, a

March 9, 2014

Deflation fears as China inflation drops

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s inflation rate dropped to 2 percent year-on-year in February, down from 2.5 percent in January, the government said Sunday, prompting economists to warn that the risk of deflation was rising.The consumer price index figure announced by the National Bureau of Statistics matched the median forecast in a poll of 13 economists by Dow Jones Newswires.The producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, declined by 2 percent in February, accelerating fr

March 9, 2014

U.S. job gain raises economic hopes

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Job growth in the United States has proved surprisingly consistent. Brutal winter weather snarled traffic, canceled flights and cut power to homes and factories in February. Yet it didn’t faze U.S. employers, who added 175,000 jobs, far more than the two previous months. Modest but steady hiring has become a hallmark of a nearly 5-year-old economic rebound that remains sluggish yet strikingly resilient. The economy has been slowed by political gridlock, harsh weather and global

March 9, 2014

Target’s tech executive resigns after giant information breach

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Target’s chief information officer has resigned as the retailer overhauls its information security practices in the wake of a giant customer data breach, the company said Wednesday.Beth Jacob, who was in charge of Target’s computer systems since 2008, has resigned, a company spokeswoman said, in the first major executive departure since the company announced the hacking incident in December.Target will launch an external search for an interim CIO as well as for a chief informati

March 6, 2014