EU’s Rehn expects debt-crisis firewalls to be reinforcedItaly’s Prime Minister Mario Monti warned that Spain could reignite the European debt crisis as euro-area ministers this week prepare a deal to strengthen the region’s financial firewall. Monti pointed to Spain’s struggle to control its finances ahead of a finance ministers meeting in Copenhagen starting on March 30, where officials will seek agreement to raise a 500 billion-euro ($664 billion) ceiling on bailout funding. “It doesn’t take

March 26, 2012

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Singing rap, citing Buddhist teachings, and once dreaming of being a sports star, the likely next head of the World Bank may not be widely known ― but he’s no faceless bureaucrat.Korean-born Jim Yong Kim is the president of Ivy League Dartmouth College, a medical doctor and, above all, a renowned campaigner against AIDS and tuberculosis in some of the world’s poorest regions.The 52-year-old’s CV glitters with prestigious posts at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Ho

March 25, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will nominate Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim to head the World Bank, a surprise pick for the international financial institution's top job, senior administration officials said. (Dartmouth College)The Korean-born Kim is a physician by training and

March 23, 2012

MUMBAI, India (AP) ― Jaguar Land Rover and China’s Chery Automobile Co. plan to start a joint venture to make and sell luxury vehicles in China, the companies said Wednesday.Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, has long wanted to set up shop in China, one of the company’s fastest-growing markets.China accounted for 1 percent of Jaguar Land Rover sales in 2005, but is now its third largest market after North America and the U.K. China sales rose 60 percent in 2011 to 42,000 v

March 22, 2012

Apple Inc.’s new iPad runs “significantly hotter” than the earlier model when conducting processor-intensive tasks such as playing graphics-heavy games, according to Consumer Reports, which tested the device. The newest version of the market-leading tablet computer ran as hot as 47 degrees Celsius, the magazine said on its website. Consumer Reports, published by the consumer-watchdog group Consumers Union, used a thermal-imaging camera to record the temperature while playing the action game “Inf

March 21, 2012

Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s second- biggest automaker, will revive its Datsun brand after three decades in a bid to increase sales in developing markets such as Russia, India and Indonesia. Nissan will hold press conferences in Tokyo and Mumbai Wednesday to announce its plans for the brand, it said in e-mailed invitations. The Datsun brand was officially discontinued in 1981, Christopher Keeffe, a spokesman for the company, said Tuesday. He declined to further elaborate on plans for the brand ahea

March 21, 2012

Saudi Arabia can increase crude production by as much as 25 percent immediately if needed, the country’s oil minister said, seeking to allay the concern over supplies that has driven prices to the highest in three years. Brent crude has gained 15 percent in London this year to about $124 a barrel. Iran has threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, a transit point for a fifth of the world’s traded oil, in response to sanctions on its crude exports imposed over i

March 21, 2012

Hong Kong, a bastion of free-market policies and low corporate taxes as well as the gateway to the world’s most populous nation, is the best place to do business, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The city of about 7 million people secured top position in a new index based on six criteria including the degree of economic integration and labor costs. The Netherlands, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia occupied the next four leading slots. The ranking marks a victory for Hong Kong 15 years af

March 21, 2012

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s central bank chief says conditions are ripe for Beijing to liberalize interest rates, a move analysts say would boost domestic demand as the nation’s exports are hit by overseas turmoil.Beijing has cut the nation’s growth target for 2012 as its export-driven economy slows, and a key policy focus this year will be on expanding demand at home.In an article published in China Finance ― a magazine backed by the People’s Bank of China ― Zhou Xiaochuan said “the conditions to f

March 21, 2012

ATHENS (AP) ― Greece’s Parliament early Wednesday approved a new international bailout deal, which will see the crisis-hit country receive 172 billion euros ($227 billion) in rescue loans.Lawmakers voted 213-79 in favor of the new agreement, with deputies backing the coalition government of socialists and conservatives broadly following party lines.Earlier, the Communist Party staged nationwide protests against the deal, including a rally outside parliament attended by several thousand demonstra

March 21, 2012

SEATTLE (AP) ― Starbucks Corp. is pushing beyond coffee with the opening of the first Evolution Fresh Inc. juice store, the company said Monday. Starbucks, which is looking for new businesses for growth, purchased the California-based juice maker in November for $30 million. Evolution Fresh had been selling its juices in grocery stores such as Whole Foods groceries. The first Evolution Fresh store is in Bellevue, Washington. Aside from juices, Starbucks says Evolution Fresh shops will have wraps

March 20, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― Wendy’s has dethroned Burger King as the country’s second biggest hamburger chain.Wendy’s edged out Burger King in U.S. sales volume for the first time last year since Wendy’s was founded in 1969, according to a report by the food industry research firm Technomic Inc. that’s set to be released next month.Wendy’s had sales of $8.5 billion in 2011, compared with $8.4 billion for Burger King. McDonald’s remained far larger than both with $34.2 billion in sales.The figures are based

March 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Moody’s on Monday left Spain’s credit rating unchanged despite the country’s missing its deficit goal and requiring new targets to be set.“The easier targets do not affect the country’s “A3” government bond rating with negative outlook because Moody’s had already incorporated a likely deviation from original fiscal targets and a slower pace of fiscal consolidation into its analysis,” the ratings agency said.The ratings confirmation came after Brussels allowed Madrid to relax i

March 20, 2012

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said signs the economy is improving don’t dispel risks to growth that include higher gasoline prices, fiscal cutbacks and a weak housing market. “The incoming data on the U.S. economy has been a bit more upbeat of late, suggesting that the recovery may be getting better established,” Dudley said Monday in a speech in Melville, New York. “But, while these developments are certainly encouraging, it is far too soon to conclude that we are

March 20, 2012