Polish unemployment rate rises to 13.4 percent
Poland's unemployment rate climbed to 13.4 percent in December, from 12.9 percent the previous month, due to an economic slowdown and a seasonal loss ...

Hyundai Motor's 4Q profit dented by won's rise
South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. reported its lowest quarterly profit in nearly two years Thursday due to lackluster car sales at home and a surge in ...
UN Kuwait invasion fund pays out $1.3 billion
The U.N. panel that settles claims for damages from victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait has paid out another $1.3 billion — bringing the total ...
Commerzbank to cut up to 6,000 jobs
Germany's second-biggest bank, Commerzbank AG, says it plan to cut as many as 6,000 jobs over the next three years as it tries to reduce costs.
LG Display posts profit but iPhone dims outlook
LG Display reported a $299 million profit for the fourth quarter Thursday thanks to mobile product launches by key customers including Apple Inc.

Bangladesh fire victims' families wait for money
When fire ravaged a Bangladeshi garment factory, killing 112 workers, dozens of their families did not even have a body to bury because their loved ...

In crisis, Greeks turn to wood-burning - and choke
Fireplaces were long a status symbol for Greece's up-and-coming middle class, like the second car and the flat-screen TV. Now, they are increasingly ...

Congress charts new collision course over deficit
The nation's sharp disagreements over taxes and spending are on a re-routed collision course, as Senate Democrats launch a plan that includes new ...

AP PHOTOS: A look at jobs replaced by technology
Five years after the start of the Great Recession, the toll is terrifyingly clear: Millions of middle-class jobs have been lost in developed countries ...

Gay rights groups seek order on employer bias
Gay rights advocates are renewing their push for President Barack Obama to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating ...

Why Geithner's Treasury leadership proved divisive
President Barack Obama has saluted the outgoing Timothy Geithner as one of the best U.S. Treasury secretaries ever. He's surely been among the most ...

WTC workers scrawl graffiti of defiance, hope
On most construction projects, workers are discouraged from signing or otherwise scrawling on the iron and concrete. At the skyscraper rising at ...

Changing family dynamic may lead to tax relief
Members of the sandwich generation — caught between supporting elderly parents whose assets are nearly exhausted and adult children without jobs — ...

Flooded and frozen: Cold torments storm survivors
Polar air settled in earnest over the Northeast after trekking through the Midwest, grinding trains to a halt, bursting pipes and bringing further ...

Survey finds China manufacturing hits 2-year high
China's manufacturing crept higher in January to the fastest pace in two years, a survey showed Thursday, in another sign the world's second-biggest ...

Sickening fog settles over Salt Lake City area
Michelle Francis keeps one eye on Utah's air quality index and the other on her 9-year-old daughter's chronic asthma these days. The air pollution is ...
NKorea warns that nuke test may be imminent
North Korea's top military body warned Thursday that the regime is poised to conduct a nuclear test in response to U.N. punishment, and made clear ...

In Mass. law, states get a health overhaul model
When Massachusetts adopted its landmark health care law in 2006, the goals were ambitious and the potential solutions complex. More than 90 percent ...

Asia stocks gain as China manufacturing improves
Asian stock markets were mostly higher Thursday, supported by Congress averting a U.S. government default and a pickup in China's manufacturing in ...
Vietnam will make drug itself to execute prisoners
Vietnam will begin producing its own chemical for executing prisoners after factories in the European Union stopped shipments because of objections ...

Japan reports record $78.3B trade deficit in 2012
Japan's trade deficit rose to a record 6.93 trillion yen ($78.3 billion) in 2012 as fuel imports surged and a bitter territorial dispute with China ...
SKorea's economy grows at slowest pace in 3 years
South Korea's economy grew 2 percent in 2012, its weakest performance in three years, and is not expected to rebound strongly this year, the central ...

Beverage industry, NYC lawyers duel over drinks
The city defended its groundbreaking size limit on sugary drinks Wednesday as an imperfect but meaningful rein on obesity, while critics said it would ...

Amgen 4Q profit drops 16 pct. on higher spending
Drugmaker Amgen Inc. on Wednesday posted a 16 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit, as higher costs for production, marketing, research and other ...

Netflix's 4Q restores company's investment luster
Netflix has re-emerged as a stock-market star after a fourth-quarter performance that demonstrated its success in broadening the appeal of its ...