NEW YORK (AP) ― BlackBerry is returning to its roots with a new phone that features a traditional keyboard at a time when rival Apple and Android phones ― and most smartphone customers ― have embraced touch screens.With the Classic, BlackBerry is courting its core customer, the business user. The physical keyboard is something traditional BlackBerry users prefer because they find it easier than touch screens to type with. The company is also emphasizing battery life and security.“A lot of people

Dec. 18, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) ― Russian consumers flocked to the stores Wednesday, frantically buying a range of big-ticket items to pre-empt the price rises kicked off by the staggering fall in the value of the ruble in recent days.As the Russian authorities announced a series of measures to ease the pressure on the ruble, which slid 15 percent in the previous two days and raised fears of a bank run, many Russians were buying cars and home appliances ― in some cases in record numbers ― before prices for these im

Dec. 18, 2014

WASHINGTON ― Russia’s suddenly escalating financial crisis risks spilling beyond its borders and endangering parts of the global economy. With economies in Europe, Japan, China and Latin America already ailing, fresh threats have emerged from Russia’s shriveled currency, its move to dramatically boost interest rates, the damage from plummeting oil prices and Western sanctions over Russia’s action in Ukraine.The alarming 10 percent drop in the ruble over the past two days has amplified the econom

Dec. 17, 2014

OAKLAND, California (AP) ― A federal jury decided Tuesday that Apple didn’t compete unfairly when it sold music players and songs with copy-protection software that was incompatible with rival devices and music from competing online stores.The eight-member jury in U.S. District Court handed Apple a victory by rejecting a claim from attorneys for consumers and iPod resellers, who were seeking as much as $1 billion in a class-action lawsuit. The plaintiffs argued that Apple was able to overcharge

Dec. 17, 2014

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) ― OPEC has no plans to intervene in the oil market to shore up sagging crude prices, the Kuwaiti oil minister said Tuesday, as Brent crude breached the $60 mark.“At OPEC’s meeting in November, we took two decisions,” Ali al-Omair said at a lecture in Kuwait City.“The first was to keep the production ceiling unchanged and the second to hold the next meeting in June. So far, nothing has changed and there are no calls for holding an emergency meeting,” Omair said.He declined to an

Dec. 17, 2014

NEW YORK (AFP) ― U.S. automaker Chrysler unveiled Tuesday its new name, FCA US LLC, reflecting its subsidiary status to newly renamed Italian parent Fiat Italy SpA.Until now, the company, the smallest of the “Big Three” U.S. automakers including General Motors and Ford Motor, was known as the Chrysler Group.The company was gradually acquired by Turin-based Fiat after emerging in June 2009 from a U.S. government-backed bankruptcy restructuring and bailout. Fiat fully completed the acquisition of

Dec. 17, 2014

BELGRADE (AP) ― In an attempt to secure business ties and increase political influence, China has launched a charm offensive in eastern Europe ― where the European Union and Russia are also vying for sway.Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, accompanied by 200 corporate executives, met the leaders of 16 central and eastern European countries Tuesday for a two-day summit being billed in China as an opportunity to deepen ties to the region and boost relations with the EU.The Asian economic power is

Dec. 17, 2014

LONDON  ― Brent oil slumped Tuesday to a new five-year low below $60 per barrel, as shrinking Chinese manufacturing activity stoked global demand concerns, with sentiment also plagued by over-supply.In morning London deals, the price of Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January sank to $59.49, hitting a low last seen in July 2009.China’s manufacturing activity worsened in December with HSBC’s purchasing managers’ index hitting a seven-month low, the bank said, signalling more weakness in the

Dec. 16, 2014

LONDON (AP) ― BT Group PLC said Monday it is in exclusive talks to buy mobile phone operator EE from Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and France’s Orange for 12.5 billion pounds ($20 billion) in cash and shares.BT, Britain’s biggest home telephone and Internet provider, announced last month that it was planning to reenter the mobile market, which it left in 2001. EE would mark a major re-entry into the mobile phone market for BT. EE is the country’s biggest with its 24.5 million customers.In an after-

Dec. 16, 2014

LONDON (AFP) ― The oil market faces an uncertain outlook in 2015 as tumbling prices resulting from global oversupply stoke geopolitical tensions in key producers of crude, analysts say.Oil prices have lost around half their value since June, punished by abundant supplies, a stronger dollar and weak demand in the faltering world economy.Losses accelerated in late November when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ― which pumps out one-third of the world’s oil ― decided against cuttin

Dec. 16, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Bank of Russia has raised its key interest rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent in a desperate move to boost its currency and rescue its troubled economy.The action announced Tuesday in Moscow comes after the ruble’s value has sunk roughly 50 percent since January, battered by Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine and plunging worldwide oil prices. The falling ruble threatens to escalate Russia’s inflation to dangerous levels and paralyze the economy.The ce

Dec. 16, 2014

OPEC will stand by its decision not to cut output even if oil prices fall as low as $40 a barrel and will wait at least three months before considering an emergency meeting, the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said. OPEC won’t immediately change its Nov. 27 decision to keep the group’s collective output target unchanged at 30 million barrels a day, Suhail Al-Mazrouei said. Venezuela supports an OPEC meeting given the price slide, though the country hasn’t officially requested one, an offic

Dec. 15, 2014

PARIS (AFP) ― Addicted to liquidity and disconnected from the real economy, global markets are likely to dance in 2015 to the different monetary policy tunes played by the U.S. Fed, the ECB and China, while plunging oil prices could spice up the mix.In 2015, “like the last seven years, it is the central bank interventions which will have an influence over the markets,” said Romain Boscher, a stock portfolio manager at Amundi.For the past several years central banks have tried to stimulate stalle

Dec. 15, 2014