Economy

UK camera chain Jessops shuts, shedding 1,370 jobs
Bankruptcy administrators for Jessops, the struggling British camera retail chain, said Friday the company is shutting down because it is no longer ...
Slovenia's prime minister accused of corruption
About 10,000 protesters joined the chief of Slovenia's anti-corruption watchdog on Friday in urging the country's prime minister and opposition leader ...
Argentine court charges officials for train crash
An Argentine court is charging two former government officials and the owners of a train company in connection with a crash that killed 51 people last ...
Facebook tests $100 charge to message Zuckerberg
Would you pay $100 to message Mark Zuckerberg? Facebook says it's testing some "extreme price points" to let users pay to have their messages seen by ...
US trade gap grows to $48.7B, as imports surge
The U.S. trade deficit expanded in November to its widest point in seven months, driven by a surge in imports that outpaced only modest growth in ...
UK recession fears grow as manufacturing drops
Concern is growing that the British economy may be headed back into recession after statistics released Friday showed a surprise drop in manufacturing ...
Germany's Schaeuble to meet Greek opposition chief
Germany's finance minister will meet Greek opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, a vehement opponent of Berlin-backed austerity policies, when he visits ...
Stocks open lower; S&P 500 eases below 5-year high
Stocks are opening slightly lower on Wall Street, pulling the Standard & Poor's 500 index below a five-year high it reached the day before. The Dow ...
Merkel: Cyprus must embrace reforms to get bailout
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Cyprus must move ahead with economic reforms so it can garner support for a rescue package that it's trying to ...
Oil slips to near $93 as China inflation picks up
Oil prices fell back to near $93 a barrel Friday following a rise in China's inflation that if sustained could limit measures to support growth.
Iraq threatens to seize oil shipments, sue dealers
Iraq has threatened to seize oil exports made without its consent and sue companies dealing in what it sees as contraband crude just days after the ...
Italy's 3-year borrowing rate lowest since 2010
Italy has easily raised €3.5 billion ($4.64 billion) in the sale of 3-year bonds, paying the lowest interest rates for such debt since March 2010, as ...
Skoda Auto reports record sales in 2012
Czech carmaker Skoda Auto AS says its unit sales rose by 6.8 percent in 2012 to reach a record high. Skoda Auto, which is owned by Germany's ...
China auto sales accelerate in December
China's auto sales rose 7.1 percent in 2012 after growth accelerated in December as an economic recovery began to gain traction, an industry group ...
Apple CEO: China will be biggest market
Apple expects China to overtake the United States as its biggest market, CEO Tim Cook told a Chinese government news agency. "China is currently our ...
Honda announces plans to cut 800 jobs
Japanese automaker Honda says it will cut about one in four jobs at its UK factory as it struggles with low demand in Europe. Honda Motor Europe says ...
Japan's Nikkei jumps on Abe's stimulus package
Japan's Nikkei stock index jumped Friday after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a massive spending package intended to breathe life into the ...
China's inflation jumps to 6-month high
China's inflation spiked to a six-month high in December after a freezing winter pushed up vegetable prices, possibly complicating efforts to sustain ...
Ford, others step up hiring to meet demand
Ford says it plans to hire 2,200 engineers, computer programmers and other white-collar workers this year as U.S. demand for new vehicles picks up.
From monkeys to surfers, Calif. braces for cold
Strawberry growers covered their crops while San Diego zookeepers turned on heaters for the chimpanzees as Californians braced for a cold snap that ...
American Express to cut 5,400 jobs
American Express Co. said Thursday that it will slash about 5,400 jobs, mainly in its travel business, as it seeks to cut costs and transform its ...
Ford's souped-up dividend could lure new investors
Ford may get a longer look from curious investors after rolling out a more muscular, souped-up dividend on Thursday. The nation's No. 2 automaker is ...
French taxi drivers' strike clogs roadways
Taxi drivers across France clogged traffic, slowed access to airports and forced would-be passengers to find alternate transport as they held a strike ...
Drug companies forge partnerships with top schools
In their quest for the next big drug discovery, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly teaming up with some of the nation's top universities, ...
Greek deficit improves but jobless rate soars
Greece's coalition government on Thursday reported a steep drop in the budget deficit in 2012, but unemployment rose again at an alarming rate as ...