Eurozone economy to shrink again in 2013: EU

The European Union predicted Friday that the economy of the 17 member countries that use the euro will shrink again in 2013 even though it will see its fortunes improve in the second half of the year.In its winter forecast, the EU Commission, the EU's executive arm, said the eurozone is likely to shrink a further 0.3 percent this year, in contrast to November's prediction of 0.1 percent growth.Across the eurozone, it said the debt crisis and the associated belt-tightening are weighing on activit

Feb. 22, 2013

Horsemeat crisis spreads to Asia

PARIS (AFP) ― Europe’s horsemeat scandal spread Wednesday to Asia where an imported lasagna brand was pulled from the shelves in Hong Kong, as Czech officials ordered similar action on frozen meals mislabeled “beef.”A host of top players have been caught up in the spiraling scandal including Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, top beef producer JBS of Brazil and British supermarket chain Tesco.Hong Kong authorities ordered ParknShop, one of the biggest supermarket chains in the city, to re

Feb. 21, 2013

Portugal raises $2b in debt sale, cuts forecasts

LISBON (AP) ― Portugal raised $2 billion in a debt sale at sharply lower rates Wednesday as the bailed-out country continues to benefit from improving market confidence, despite forecasts its recession will deepen.Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar said Wednesday the government expects an economic contraction this year of 2 percent ― double its earlier prediction. It will be Portugal’s third straight year of recession as austerity measures including steep tax hikes and welfare cuts are blamed for a c

Feb. 21, 2013

Merkel says $1.30-$1.40 euro shows ‘normality’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed attempts to manipulate exchange rates, saying the present value of the euro against the dollar is within the currency’s normal range.Merkel, speaking in Berlin, acknowledged concerns over the euro’s strength in southern European countries that have been “at pains to lower their labor unit costs in a fixed exchange rate regime” only to see the gains “melt away like the snow in the sun under certain conditions.”“On the other hand, we have to say that euro

Feb. 21, 2013

U.S. Stocks drop following Fed doubts about stimulus

The stock market posted its biggest loss this year on news that Federal Reserve officials suggested the central bank scale back its effort to keep borrowing costs low.Minutes from the Fed's January meeting seemed to catch investors by surprise when they were released at 2 p.m. EST. Several Fed policymakers worried that the bank's program of buying $85 billion of bonds each month could eventually unsettle financial markets or cause the bank to take losses. Even so, most of the Fed officials thoug

Feb. 21, 2013

Ford leads drop as European auto sales fall

European Union car sales fell to the lowest level for a January, with Ford Motor Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen posting the biggest drops, as economic contractions in the southern part of the region widened to Germany and France.Registrations dropped 8.7 percent to 885,159 vehicles last month from 969,219 cars a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said in a statement. The figure was the lowest start to the year since the group began tracking sal

Feb. 20, 2013

Novartis chief foregoes $78m payout

BERLIN (AP) ― Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG has agreed with its outgoing chairman to scrap plans for a farewell non-compete deal that could have netted him up to $78 million.The announcement followed criticism from some of the Basel-based company’s shareholders and Swiss politicians.Daniel Vasella, 59, who is retiring later this month, said Tuesday that he and the company had agreed to forgo a ‘’non-compete’’ pay-out that many people found ‘’unreasonably high.’’‘’I have understood that many people

Feb. 20, 2013

United sees Boeing 787 grounded through March 30

United Airlines said Tuesday it expected to keep its Boeing 787s out of service through March 30, a fresh sign of how long the aircraft could remain grounded worldwide to fix a battery problem.United, the only U.S. airline that operates Boeing's cutting-edge aircraft, said it was scheduling alternate planes through March 30 while its seven 787 Dreamliners remained grounded."We are further adjusting our published flight schedules to show alternate aircraft in place of our six Boeing 787s through

Feb. 20, 2013

Google's stock price breaks $800 for 1st time

Google's stock price topped $800 for the first time Tuesday amid renewed confidence in the company's ability to reap higher profits from its dominance of Internet search and prominence in the growing mobile market.The milestone comes more than five years after Google's shares initially hit $700. Not long after breaking that barrier in October 2007, the economy collapsed into the worst recession since World War II and Google's stock tumbled into a prolonged malaise that eventually led to a change

Feb. 20, 2013

Japan not planning to buy foreign bonds with public-private fund

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said the government has no intention of buying foreign bonds through a public-private fund, comments that caused the yen to strengthen. “We don’t intend to buy foreign bonds,” Aso told reporters in Tokyo, when asked if such a fund is planned. He also said that the government is not considering any immediate change to the law governing the Bank of Japan. Aso’s remarks contrast with those of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who told parliament yesterday that buying for

Feb. 19, 2013

ECB's Draghi pushes for European bank bailout fund

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Monday the 17-country eurozone must move swiftly to set up a joint fund to restructure and wind down troubled banks, claiming it is a necessary step to stabilize the financial system.The fund should be financed by levies on financial institutions to ensure it will not have to tap taxpayers' money over the medium term, guaranteeing that “resolution costs are first and foremost borne by the private sector,” he told European lawmakers.  The fund mus

Feb. 19, 2013

Burger King plans apology after Twitter hack

Somebody hacked Burger King's Twitter account on Monday, posting obscene messages and changing its profile picture to a McDonald's logo.The tweets stopped after a little more than an hour, and Burger King said it had reached out to Twitter to suspend the account. A Twitter spokesman did not immediately respond to a phone message left on Monday.Burger King, which usually tweets several times a week, said it was working to get the account back up. Typical tweets promoted sales on chicken sandwiche

Feb. 19, 2013