EU officials say Greece may need more help with debt as S&P downgrades Greek bondsLONDON (AP) ― Two major credit agencies signaled their concern about Greece’s massive debt on Monday, lending new credence to the view that European authorities must do more to help the country a year after it barely avoided bankruptcy with a bailout.Experts from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund

Louis Vuitton, the French maker of laminated canvas handbags, is the world’s most valuable luxury brand for the sixth consecutive year, a research group said. The brand, owned by Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, has a value of $24.3 billion, an increase of 23 percent from 2010, according to Millward Brown Optimor’s 2011 BrandZ study published Monday. That’s almost as much as the co

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Smartphones powered by Google software widened their lead on BlackBerry handsets in the U.S. market during the first three months of the year, industry tracker comScore reported on Friday.Android smartphones dethroned BlackBerry in January by capturing 31.2 percent of the U.S. market and that share grew to 34.7 percent by the end of March, according to comScore. A Samsung Ele

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Russian-American billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries won a bidding war on Friday for Warner Music Group, buying the storied music company for $3.3 billion in an all-cash transaction.The sale of Warner Music, whose artists range from current stars such as Eric Clapton and Kid Rock to legends such as Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles, comes at a challenging time for the music

South Korean high schooler Kim So-hui won the country’s first gold medal at the ongoing World Taekwondo Championships on Thursday.In the final of the women’s 46-kilogram division here, about 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, Kim defeated Li Zhaoyi of China 13-6. Kim, a six-time national champion, is the first South Korean high school student to win a world title in six years.Kim So-hui (Yonhap Ne

MANCHESTER, England (AP) ― Manchester United earned a chance to avenge its demoralizing loss to Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final after a makeshift side swept aside Schalke on Wednesday.A rare double from Anderson after goals from Antonio Valencia and Darron Gibson clinched a 4-1 victory to send United through to its third final in four years with a crushing 6-1 aggregate win.The May 28

FC Seoul on Wednesday qualified for the next round at an ongoing continental club competition with a victory at home.At the Seoul World Cup Stadium, FC Seoul blanked Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates 3-0 in Group F action of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League. Striker Dejan Damjanovic scored twice as Seoul became the third K-League club to reach the next stage this year.The victory

Executives bow in apology for security breach in PlayStation Network online serviceTOKYO (AP) ― Sony executives bowed in apology Sunday for a security breach in the company’s PlayStation Network that compromised the personal data of some 77 million accounts on the online service.“We deeply apologize for the inconvenience we have caused,” said Kazuo Hirai, chief of Sony Corp.’s PlayStation video ga

BEIJING (AP) ― Chinese courts have sentenced 14 people to prison for producing or selling melamine-tainted milk powder, news reports said Saturday, highlighting Beijing’s struggle to stamp out rampant sales of phony or tainted food and medicine.Three years after use of melamine in infant formula killed six babies and prompted a shake-up of China’s dairy industry, authorities still are seizing tons

Expecting soaring pump prices, U.S. keeps up push to end tax breaks for oil, gas companiesWASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama says oil companies are profiting from rising pump prices and he wants Congress to end $4 billion in annual tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.“These tax giveaways aren’t right,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. “They aren’t smart. And

 

DETROIT (AP) ― Ford posted its best first-quarter profit in 13 years, as its new, more fuel-efficient vehicles reached showrooms during a surge in gasoline prices.New arrivals such as the Ford Explorer and Fiesta small car are selling well. Company profits are growing around the world. And Ford is charging more for its cars, helping offset higher commodity costs.Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday said its

Government deficit reaches 10.5% of GDP in 2010, above 9.6% predicted by EUBRUSSELS (AP) ― Greece’s government deficit was significantly bigger than forecast last year, European Union data showed Tuesday, underlining the difficulties the debt-ridden country is having to get its finances under control.Greece’s deficit hit 10.5 percent of economic output in 2010, well above the 9.6 percent the Europ

MANILA (AFP) ― Soaring global food prices threaten to push tens of millions of Asians into extreme poverty and cut the region’s economic growth this year, the Asian Development Bank warned in a report Tuesday.Coupled with skyrocketing oil prices, the spike poses a serious setback for developing Asia after having rebounded rapidly and strongly from the 2008 global economic crisis, said chief ADB ec

Global carmakers adopt China-specific brands seen as tool to wrest technology from abroadSHANGHAI (AP) ― Some of the new Chinese cars unveiled at this week’s Shanghai Auto Show are affordable for millions of buyers ― a happy development for Beijing that might prove costly for the global automakers producing them.General Motors Co. unveiled the 630 sedan, the first model from its new Baojun badge d

NEW YORK (AP) ― Sony Corp. said it is rebuilding its PlayStation Network to bring it back online after an “external intrusion” caused it to suspend the service.The company said it turned off the service, which lets gamers connect in live play, so that it could strengthen its network infrastructure. Qriocity ― the company’s online entertainment platform ― was also affected.“Though this task is time

The auto giant’s sales are up in U.S. and China, coming back from bankruptcyDETROIT (AP) ― General Motors is almost certain to claim the title of world’s biggest automaker this year, retaking the top spot from Toyota, which has been hurt by production problems since the Japanese earthquake and still can’t escape the shadow of major safety recalls.The No. 1 title, a morale booster for the winner’s

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) ― A bunch of White Sox players started hitting again, all at once.Omar Vizquel, A.J. Pierzynski, Carlos Quentin and Paul Konerko each drove in two runs and the White Sox stopped a seven-game losing streak with a 9-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.“That’s the way we expected to play everyday, to be honest with you,” Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said.