WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. President Barack Obama told opposition Republicans on Wednesday they would have to accept tax increases for the rich if the country was to avoid going over the fiscal cliff.Obama said he wanted to extend tax cuts set to expire at year-end for 98 percent of Americans to mitigate the impact of the cliff, an austere program aimed at slashing the deficit that could also send the economy into recession.“Let’s go ahead and lock that in. That will be good for the economy. It wil

Nov. 15, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The federal government started the 2013 budget year with a $120 billion deficit in October, an indication that the nation is on a path to its fifth straight $1 trillion-plus annual deficit.A soaring deficit puts added pressure on President Barack Obama and Congress to seek a budget deal in the coming weeks.The Treasury Department said Tuesday that the October deficit ― the gap between the government’s tax revenue and its spending ― was 22 percent higher than the same month last

Nov. 14, 2012

Moody’s Investors Service lowered its forecasts for economic growth in the Group of 20 nations, citing budget cuts and financial-market uncertainty. Real gross domestic product growth for the G20 as a whole will be about 2.7 percent in 2012, 3 percent in 2013 and 3.3 percent in 2014, Moody’s said in a report published Monday. For the advanced economies in the group, growth next year will be about 0.5 percentage points lower than forecast in August. While growth in emerging economies will outpace

Nov. 13, 2012

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Former BBC chief Mark Thompson took the reins Monday at The New York Times Co. amid questions about whether the crisis engulfing the British broadcaster would spill over to the U.S. news organization.Thompson, named in August as the U.S. media firm’s president and chief executive, remains on the news pages even though he has denied any role in shelving an investigative report into sex abuse by the late BBC star Jimmy Savile.The Times has reaffirmed support for Thompson and he ha

Nov. 13, 2012

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Greece has "delivered" on its economic reform pledges and a long-awaited report from its international creditors is "positive", Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of finance ministers, said Monday.The payment of a key tranche of international aid to stave off bankruptcy in Greece has frozen since June pending judgement on its reform programme by the so-called "troika" of creditors, the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.Arriving for

Nov. 12, 2012

LONDON (AFP) -- The BBC’s director of news, Helen Boaden, and her deputy, Stephen Mitchell, have “stepped aside” amid the crisis over Jimmy Savile and a report wrongly accusing a politician of child abuse, reports said Monday.The BBC press office told AFP it could not confirm the reports, carried on both the BBC News channel and its rival Sky News television, but an official announcement is expected within hours.Acting director-general Tim Davie, who took over the top job at the public broadcast

Nov. 12, 2012

Adopting measures to promote energy efficiency can buy the world an additional five years to seal a climate-protection deal, the International Energy Agency said.Under current policies, nations need a climate agreement by 2017, when energy infrastructure will probably produce, or lock in, all emissions allowable by 2035 at a level consistent with preventing dangerous global warming, the agency said today in its World Energy Outlook report."Rapid deployment of energy-efficient technologies, as in

Nov. 12, 2012

ATHENS (AP) ― Greek lawmakers approved the country’s 2013 austerity budget early Monday, an essential step in Greece’s efforts to persuade its international creditors to unblock a vital rescue loan installment without which the country will go bankrupt.The budget passed by a 167-128 vote in the 300-member Parliament. It came days after a separate bill of deep spending cuts and tax hikes for the next two years squeaked through with a narrow majority following severe disagreements among the three

Nov. 12, 2012

Renewable energy is set to rival coal as the main generator of the world's electricity by 2035 as the costs of technology fall and subsidies rise, the International Energy Agency said.Wind farms, solar parks and hydroelectric dams are forecast to become the second biggest power generator in 2015 and rise to almost a third of all generation in 2035, a level approaching that of coal, the Paris-based agency that advises 28 nations on energy policy said today in its annual outlook."A steady increase

Nov. 12, 2012

The U.S. will surpass Saudi Arabia in oil production in the next decade, making the world's biggest consumer almost self-reliant in energy, the International Energy Agency said.Growing supply of crude extracted from "tight" underground rock formations will transform the U.S. into the world's largest oil producer by about 2020, lasting until the middle of that decade, the Paris-based adviser said today in its annual World Energy Outlook, which projects energy trends through 2035. New domestic sou

Nov. 12, 2012

Greek lawmakers approved the country's 2013 austerity budget early Monday, an essential step in Greece's efforts to persuade its international creditors to unblock a vital rescue loan installment without which the country will go bankrupt.The budget passed by a 167-128 vote in the 300-member Parliament. It came days after a separate bill of deep spending cuts and tax hikes for the next two years squeaked through with a narrow majority following severe disagreements among the three parties in the

Nov. 12, 2012