SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― With the original iPad, Apple brought an attractive, easy-to-use tablet computer to the masses at a reasonable price ― a feat numerous companies are trying to top.With Friday’s release of the iPad 2, Apple is pulling further ahead, with improvements that make an already excellent tablet even more enticing. It goes to show that when it comes to tablets, Apple refuses to be best

March 10, 2011

GENEVA (AFP) ― The U.N. expert on food rights Tuesday urged regulation of agriculture commodities trading to stop a speculative bubble that is artificially helping to drive up food prices.Olivier De Schutter, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, warned that the situation may be amplified by high oil prices.“There is a very close correlation between the price of oil and the price of fo

March 9, 2011

China may deflect international pressure for faster yuan appreciation by reporting the nation’s smallest trade surplus in 10 months tomorrow.The excess was $4.9 billion in February, from $6.5 billion a month earlier, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 21 economists. Data for the first two months of the year is typically distorted by the timing of a Lunar New Year holida

March 9, 2011

Members joining Saudi Arabia in raising production to allay fears of supply crunch in WestOil’s march towards $120 a barrel sparked a frantic day across financial markets, as OPEC members prepared to increase production and investors seeking a “safe haven” drove the price of gold to a fresh high.Fears were intensified as Libya witnessed a day of fierce clashes between forces loyal to Colonel Gadha

March 8, 2011

Microsoft Corp. will pay Nokia Oyj more than $1 billion to promote and develop Windows-based handsets as part of their smartphone software agreement, according to two people with knowledge of the terms.Nokia will pay Microsoft a fee for each copy of Windows used in its phones, costs that will be offset as Nokia curtails its own budget for software research and development, said one of the people,

March 8, 2011

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s latest bullet train, the thin-nosed “Hayabusa” or Falcon, made its 300 kilometer per hour debut, boasting a luxury carriage modeled on airline business class.Japan has built up a network of cutting-edge Shinkansen train lines since the 1960s that criss-cross the island nation and now hopes to sell the infrastructure technology abroad, including to the United States.The latest

March 6, 2011

Fighting in Libya pushes oil prices above $104 per barrelNEW YORK (AP) ― Oil prices rose past $104 a barrel to end the week at a 29-month high, as fighting in Libya intensified and the world’s largest petroleum consumer, the U.S., reported that employers added nearly 200,000 new jobs in February.The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped to 8.9 percent in February. While t

March 6, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama says he’s willing to make deeper spending cuts if Congress can compromise on a budget deal that would end the threat of a government shutdown.Obama’s appeal for common ground came Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address, but lacked specifics on how to bridge the $50 billion gulf that divides the White House and Democratic budget proposal from the

March 6, 2011

Apple Inc. is in talks with record companies to give iTunes music buyers easier access to their songs on multiple devices, three people with knowledge of the plans said.Apple is negotiating with music companies, including Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp. and EMI Group Ltd., said the people, who asked for anonymity because the talks are private.

March 6, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― A top International Monetary Fund official expressed concern Wednesday about overall inflation in emerging countries beyond the current spike in food and commodity prices.Naoyuki Shinohara, IMF deputy managing director, highlighted signs of a broadening upward pressure on prices in a speech to Asian central bankers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Vendors sell vegetables at a produce mark

March 3, 2011

Portugal will accept a financial bailout “within the next few weeks” as the cost of issuing debt becomes unsustainable, said Axa Investment Managers, which oversees $714 billion in assets.“The borrowing costs are just too high” for Portugal, Christopher Iggo, London-based chief investment officer for fixed income at Axa, France’s fourth-largest fund manager, said in a telephone interview two days

March 3, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Toyota Motor Corp. recalled 2.17 million vehicles in the United States on Thursday to address accelerator pedals that could become entrapped in floor mats or jammed in driver’s side carpeting, prompting federal regulators to close its investigation into the embattled Japanese automaker.The Transportation Department said it had reviewed more than 400,000 pages of Toyota documents

Feb. 25, 2011

Moody's downgrades Japan rating outlook from stable to negative on massive national debtTOKYO (AFP) ― Ratings agency Moody’s on Tuesday cut its outlook on Japan’s sovereign debt to “negative,” arguing that government policy may not be strong enough to contain the industrialized world’s biggest debt.The move will put further pressure on Japan’s center-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan, in power less th

Feb. 22, 2011

BEIJING (AP) ― A major Chinese telecoms equipment maker is scrapping its effort to acquire a U.S. computer company after a security panel refused to approve the deal.Huawei Technologies Ltd.’s bid to acquire 3Leaf Systems came amid concern in some countries about China’s growing economic might and political assertiveness. American critics said the deal might allow sensitive technology to be transf

Feb. 21, 2011

China, Asia’s biggest oil consumer, increased retail gasoline and diesel prices for the first time this year, aiding state refiners under pressure from $100 crude and prompting bets further increases will come.Shares in China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the nation’s biggest refiner, rose as much as 2 percent in Hong Kong and 1.3 percent in Shanghai.“The price hike will offset some of the cost pres

Feb. 21, 2011