DRESDEN, Germany (AFP) ― North Korea’s women’s football coach Kim Kwang-min claimed several players had played in the opening 2-0 World Cup loss to two-time champions United States on Tuesday still suffering from the effects of being struck by lightning at a pre-tournament training camp.“Frankly speaking, when we were having training and test matches before we left for this tournament, five of the

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― More virtual livestock looks set to be traded and petulant fowl hurled at targets as social gaming takes hold in the booming mobile phone market, industry experts say.Social gaming, made popular by titles such as “Farmville” and “Angry Birds,” was one of the closely followed topics at last week’s CommunicAsia trade fair in Singapore, where telecom executives meet annually to chec

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is banking on Indonesia and other populous markets for growth in Asia, while it faces intensifying competition worldwide from rivals like the iPhone.The Canadian firm had one of the most prominent stands at the CommunicAsia telecom fair that ended Friday in Singapore, where industry executives gather annually to check out new technology and sea

PARIS (AFP) ― Farm ministers from the world’s top economies agreed on action on Thursday to tame the speculative trading blamed for the food price spikes that have hit consumers’ pockets and sparked unrest.“Today is a great day. We have reached an historic accord,” France’s minister for agriculture Bruno Le Maire declared after the Paris meeting, organized as part of the French presidency of the G

NEW YORK (AP) ― The United States and other nations that depend on oil imports will release and sell 60 million barrels of crude from emergency stocks in an effort to ease the strain of high oil prices on the global economy.The release by the International Energy Agency, a group of more than two dozen countries, covers only what the world uses roughly every 16 hours. But it was enough to send oil

SINGAPORE (AP) ― Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson unveiled two new Android models Wednesday in a bid to grab more of the burgeoning smartphone market.The company, a joint venture between L.M. Ericsson and Sony Corp., plans to launch the Xperia ray and Xperia active models during the third quarter, Chief Marketing Officer Steve Walker announced in Singapore. A staff member submerges the Xperia Acti

Nokia Oyj unveiled mobile phones at both ends of its range to fend off competition from cheap unbranded handsets and smartphones powered by Google Inc.’s Android. The C2-03 model will target consumers in emerging markets by making it easier to switch between different phone numbers, Mary McDowell, the executive vice president who runs low-end phones, said in Singapore Tuesday. Nokia also showed th

Takaki Kawatsu, a 33-year-old real estate agent, says he’ll be among Nintendo Co. customers who will pass on the company’s next Wii game console. “I bought the original Wii because it was popular, new and seemed like a great item to have at a party,” said Kawatsu, who owned the game console for four years before selling it three months ago. “This time, there is nothing surprising or fresh.” Kawats

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― The Internet is poised for potentially one of its biggest shakeups in years as an industry body prepares to vote on Monday on a proposal to open up new domain suffixes for private companies.Under the changes to be decided at a meeting in Singapore, businesses would no longer be restricted to the list of generic top level domains that include .com, .net and .org when they apply to

Falling energy costs temper price rises; Americans pay more for cars, clothing and hotelsWASHINGTON (AP) ― Falling energy prices cooled overall inflation in May, offering some relief to consumers who have been coping for months with high gas prices.Consumer prices rose 0.2 percent, the smallest increase in six months, the Labor Department said. It was the first drop in energy costs in nearly a yea

NEW YORK (AP) ― Google is making its largest investment yet in clean energy in an effort to help private homeowners put solar panels on their rooftops.The $280 million deal with installer SolarCity is the largest of its kind. SolarCity can use the funds to pay for a solar system that it can offer to residents for no money down. In exchange, customers agree to pay a set price for the power produced

DETROIT (AFP) ― With its turnaround in North America essentially finished, Ford Motor Co. is looking to the next act in its comeback by building its business in Asia’s emerging markets.Ford plans to grow global sales by 50 percent over the next four years with a strong push into markets such as China and India, chief executive officer Alan Mulally said last week. A Ford Motor Co. Mondeo at the Aut

 

Japan’s machinery orders fell for the first time in four months in April, an indication that companies are reluctant to spend after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Factory orders declined 3.3 percent in April from March, when they rose 1 percent, the Cabinet Office said Monday in Tokyo. Orders, an indicator of capital spending in three to six months, were projected to increase 1.7 percent, ac

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Nintendo has introduced the world to the Wii’s touchy new big brother: the Wii U.The Japanese gaming giant on Tuesday unveiled the Wii video game console’s successor, which will broadcast high-definition video and feature a touchscreen controller that can detect motion and interact with what appears on a television display. Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co., introduces the

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. President Barack Obama warned Europe’s debt crisis must not destabilize the global economy, as he laid on an effusive White House welcome for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Obama and Merkel had extensive talks about the plight of debt-stricken Greece, which needs a second huge financial bailout, despite some reluctance from some eurozone members to stump up fresh funds.“I

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ― Latin America is blessed with a wealth of natural resources such as oil, copper and soy, and seeks investment and loans to capitalize on them. China needs the commodities to keep its economy growing and has about $3 trillion in reserves to burn.Those interests have come together in a burgeoning and unorthodox partnership, as China lends and invests tens of billions of dol

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Iconic American carmaker Chrysler has officially come under the Italian flag with Fiat announcing it had obtained a majority share after buying out the U.S. government’s stake.The takeover comes two years after Fiat took a 20 percent stake in exchange for sharing its technology and providing trusted leadership as Chrysler emerged from a government-backed bankruptcy.President Barac

ATHENS (AFP) ― Hundreds of people from Greece’s two main private and public sector unions protested in central Athens Saturday to condemn the government’s new bailout deal with international lenders.Around 1,500 people marched to the capital’s main Syntagma Square, in front of the Greek parliament, with banners proclaiming: “No to the new memorandum” and “Resist!”Protesters from a communist-backed

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The International Monetary Fund said Friday it had okayed a sixth tranche of $225 million in financing for Iceland, citing Reykjavik’s “impressive progress” in post-crisis restructuring.The IMF said Iceland’s economy would likely return to growth this year, but still faced risks from inflationary pressures, delays in investment projects, joblessness and slow private sector debt