G20 finance chiefs discuss euro crisis, U.S.

MEXICO CITY (AFP) ― G20 finance chiefs held talks Sunday to tackle Europe’s relentless debt saga amid new concerns about Greece, while the United States faced questions about its own fiscal dilemma.Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 top economies began two days of talks in Mexico City focused on easing fears over threats to global growth.The eurozone debt crisis remains at the core of global worries as debt-riddled Greece faces another key deadline to avoid bankrup

Nov. 5, 2012

Microsoft said to plan for phone

Microsoft Corp. is making plans for the possible creation of its own mobile phone to help it gain share in the market for hand-held devices, according to people with knowledge of the company’s plans. The company is considering building mobile hardware as a back up, in the event that its current approach of providing software to handset makers such as Nokia Oyj and HTC Corp. falters, said the people, who requested anonymity because the plans are private. Microsoft is for now confident that its cu

Nov. 4, 2012

Myanmar parliament revises foreign investment law

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ― Myanmar’s president has signed long-awaited and much-revised legislation establishing a foreign investment law, state television announced Friday night. The measure is considered essential to attracting capital from abroad to help boost an economy that had been in the doldrums under the country’s previous military governments. Parliament earlier this year had passed a version of the bill, but it was sent back by President Thein Sein for revision. State media reported earli

Nov. 4, 2012

Merkel: Exit from crisis to take at least 5 years

BERLIN (AFP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday it will take “five years or more” to overcome the euro debt crisis, local media reported.“We have to hold our breath for five years or more,” Merkel told the regional party congress of her Christian Democratic Union at Sternberg in East Germany, the DPA news agency reported.“A lot of investors do not believe that we can keep our promises in Europe,” she said, adding: “We must demonstrate rigour in order to convince the world that it i

Nov. 4, 2012

Canada to take more time on CNOOC takeover

Canada is taking more time to review Chinese state-owned CNOOC's takeover bid for Canadian oil and gas producer Nexen. It would be China's biggest overseas energy acquisition.Canada's Industry Minister Christian Paradis said in a statement that the review of the proposed purchase, with its $15.1 billion price tag, has been extended by 30 days until Dec. 10.Extensions under the Act are not unusual, Paradis said. It's the second time the review has been extended.Canada is in the process of studyin

Nov. 3, 2012

U.S. jobless rate ticks up to 7.9% in October

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in October from 7.8 percent the prior month, the government said Friday in a highly anticipated report ahead of the November 6 election.Though the jobless rate ticked up a notch, the economy added 171,000 jobs in October, well above expectations.The Labor Department said the unemployment rate was "essentially unchanged" at 7.9 percent, and noted job growth in professional and business services, health care and the retail sector.The number of unemplo

Nov. 2, 2012

Storm damage may hit $50 billion

Damage from the deadly superstorm that blasted the U.S. East Coast and shut down New York City could hit $50 billion, economists said Thursday, but the impact on the broader economy will be minor.The lion’s share of the damage will be felt by New York, where physical damage in low-lying lower Manhattan and the cost of two days of market blackouts and bank closures continued to mount.The massive storm, which swept ashore in New Jersey late Monday, left at least 85 dead in the United States and fo

Nov. 2, 2012

World Bank approves new aid for Myanmar

Myanmar is moving at ``warp speed'' in opening up after years of authoritarian rule but needs to build institutions to improve transparency and economic governance, the World Bank said Thursday as it approved $80 million in development aid.Pamela Cox, the bank's vice president for East Asia and the Pacific, said the bank has a further $165 million in loan assistance committed for Myanmar after it clears its $900 million in arrears to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Japan is helping th

Nov. 2, 2012

Greek journalists strike to protest austerity plan

ATHENS (AP) — Greek lawmakers are to vote Wednesday on a privatization bill that will be the first major test for the country's troubled governing coalition, while journalists have walked off the job at the start of rolling 24-hour strikes to protest austerity plans that will affect their healthcare funds.The bill gives the government more power to privatize public utilities. But it has faced growing dissent from lawmakers among the Socialists and Democratic Left, the two junior partners in the

Oct. 31, 2012

Greece reaches deal with creditors on austerity: PM

ATHENS (AFP) - Greece on Tuesday reached agreement with its international creditors on a new wave of austerity measures necessary to unlock new bailout loans, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said."Today we concluded the negotiation on the measures and the budget," Samaras said in a statement, adding that approval by parliament of a new round of cuts will keep Greece in the 17-nation eurozone."If this deal is approved and the budget is voted, Greece will stay in the euro and exit the crisis," the

Oct. 30, 2012

2 top executives leaving Apple

Apple Inc. shook up its executive ranks Monday, saying the head of its store operations is leaving after just six months on the job and the long-serving head of its iPhone software development operations is exiting next year.Apple didn't say why retail senior vice president John Browett and iOS software SVP Scott Forstall were leaving, but both have presided over missteps this year.Browett cut staffing hours at Apple's retail stores, a move the company reversed and acknowledged as a mistake. For

Oct. 30, 2012

Greece considered more risky to invest than Syria

LONDON (AP) ― The world’s markets may believe that the worst of the financial crisis in Europe is over after three turbulent years, but those people who control the purse strings of the world’s businesses are not breathing any easier. An annual survey of finance directors from global business consultancy BDO finds that the crisis over too much government debt in Europe remains one of their key concerns ― so much so that Greece is considered a riskier place to invest and set up business in than w

Oct. 29, 2012

NYSE to trade electronically Monday, shut floor

The New York Stock Exchange and the NYMEX are shutting their trading floors in New York Monday as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the city.But trading will continue electronically on both exchanges.NYSE Euronext said Sunday it is putting in place its contingency plans beginning Monday and will announce later when the trading floor will reopen.The New York Mercantile Exchange, a commodity futures exchange, also will be shutting on Monday its trading floor which is located in a mandatory evacuation

Oct. 29, 2012