China’s manufacturing expanded at the slowest pace in nine months in May as the government extended a campaign to cool inflation and the property market, a survey of companies indicated. The Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 52 from 52.9 in April, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in an emailed statement. The number was higher than the median forecast of 51.6 in a Bloomberg New

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Russia on Monday banned the import of all vegetables from Germany and Spain and warned the sanction could soon be applied to the rest of Europe because of the deadly E. coli bacteria scare.The country’s consumer protection watchdog said in a statement that the ban covered “raw vegetables” including tomatoes, cucumbers and salad produced in Germany and Spain.Vegetables including Germ

 

TAIPEI (AFP) ― The question of how to get 3-D technology into every living room and a tablet computer into every hand is set to dominate Asia’s largest IT fair which opens in Taiwan this week.Around 1,800 exhibitors from across the world will descend on Taipei for the Computex fair, which runs from Tuesday to Sunday, hoping to generate an estimated $23 billion of sales from 36,000 buyers, organize

Colombia, the second-largest producer of mild arabica coffee bought by companies such as Starbucks Corp. and Nestle SA, said consumers will have to get used to higher prices because of rising demand and reduced supply. Production next year will fall short of consumption, keeping the cost of arabica coffee in a range of $2 to $3 a pound for the next 12 months, according to Colombian National Coffee

 

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) ― Sir Alex Ferguson said Manchester United would solve the problem of how to deal with Lionel Messi here Tuesday ahead of his Champions League final showdown with Barcelona.Messi stole the show for Barcelona two years ago, when the Spanish giants outclassed favorites United to win the 2009 final in Rome.Since then, the diminutive Argentinian has gone from strength to stre

Apple Inc. may face a production loss of 500,000 iPad 2 tablets after the explosion at Foxconn Technology Group’s plant in Chengdu, China, according to research firm IHS ISuppli. The drop in manufacturing will depend on how long the plant is closed following a May 20 explosion that killed three people and injured at least 15, according to ISuppli. The total could be even greater if the suspension

PARIS (AFP) ― The world’s most powerful Internet and media barons gather in Paris on Tuesday in a show of strength to leaders at the G8 summit, amid international rows over online access, copyright and regulation.Top executives from online giants like Google, Facebook and Microsoft will tout the economic potential of the Internet, which their host, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has put on the

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The International Monetary Fund on Friday approved a 26-billion-euro ($36.8 billion) three-year loan to Portugal as part of a European Union bailout of the struggling eurozone country.The “front-loaded” program makes about 6.1 billion euros “immediately available to Portugal” from the IMF, the Washington-based institution said in a statement.“The financing package is designed to

BERLIN (AP) ― Germany’s finance minister on Saturday added to a chorus of calls for France’s Christine Lagarde to become a new leader of the International Monetary Fund.Lagarde has emerged as a front-runner to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also of France, who resigned this week to face charges in New York that he tried to rape a hotel maid. He denies the charges. French Finance minister Christin

Ministers sign off on $110b in rescue loans, continue to wrestle over GreeceBRUSSELS (AP) ― European governments insisted on handing out bailouts to fight the debt crisis on Monday, when they signed off on 78 billion euros ($110 billion) in loans to Portugal and debated giving Greece a second rescue package to avoid a disastrous default.Most of the terms for Portugal’s package had emerged over the

U.S. plans steps to speed up oil production but moves won’t calm gas prices any time soonWASHINGTON (AP) ― Amid growing public unhappiness over gas prices, President Barack Obama is directing his administration to ramp up U.S. oil production by extending existing leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska’s coast and holding more frequent lease sales in a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska. But

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ― Global consumption of natural resources could almost triple to 140 billion tons a year by 2050 unless nations take drastic steps, the United Nations warned Thursday.A U.N. environment panel said the world cannot sustain the tearaway rate of use of minerals, ores and fossil and plant fuels. It called on governments to “decouple” economic growth from natural resource consumpti

China may limit interest-rate increases over the rest of the year, focusing on other tools for combating inflation as the government seeks to cool prices without choking off growth. The central bank Thursday raised banks’ reserve requirements for the fifth time this year. The half-point increase takes effect May 18 and will boost levels for the nation’s biggest lenders to a record 21 percent.  The

 

 

ROME (AFP) ― Roger Federer’s French Open problems piled up on Thursday when he was dumped out of the Rome Masters by Richard Gasquet but world number one Rafael Nadal shook off a fever to make the quarterfinals.World number three Federer went down 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) in the third round to Frenchman Gasquet, a worrying setback less just 10 days before the start of Roland Garros, the second Gr

U.N. Climate change panel says 80% of energy needs could be met by renewables by 2050ABU DHABI (AFP) ― Renewable energy could meet nearly 80 percent of the world’s energy needs by mid-century and play a crucial role in fighting global warming, the U.N.’s climate scientists said Monday in a major report. The 194-nation Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change said renewable sources had grown rapi