LONDON (AFP) ― Global banking giant HSBC will announce this week plans to axe between 10,000 and 15,000 jobs in the coming year as part of a drastic cost-cutting drive, a report said Saturday.The bank, headquartered in London but with a major focus on Asia, will unveil the job cuts on Monday as it posts its half-year results, Britain’s Sky News television reported, without citing its sources. The

JERUSALEM (AP) ― Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets nationwide on Saturday to protest rising housing prices in the largest turnout in a grass-roots movement that began two weeks ago and is demanding steps from the government to ease the burden.The protests over housing costs have tapped into wider discontent among Israelis over the high cost of living and the growing gaps between ri

Automakers agreed to double the fuel economy of the vehicles they sell in the U.S. to a fleetwide average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, President Barack Obama said. The White House negotiated the proposal, which will take effect in 2017, with automakers including General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. The administration proposed a 56.2 mpg requirement last month, up from a f

Moody’s says it now thinks U.S. will be able to keep ‘AAA’ ratingWASHINGTON (AP) ― Moody’s Investors Service said late Friday that the United States should be able to keep its “AAA” credit rating as long as Washington works out a deal that lets it continue to pay bondholders.The credit rating agency said it thinks that even if the nation’s $14.3 trillion borrowing limit isn’t raised by Tuesday’s d

 

Legislation to raise ceiling and cut $1tr on hold as votes fail to materializeWASHINGTON (AP) ― An intensive endgame at hand, Republican leaders abruptly postponed a vote Thursday night on legislation to avert a threatened government default and slice federal spending by nearly $1 trillion.“The votes obviously were not there,” conceded Rep. David Dreier, R-California, after Speaker John Boehner an

 

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) ― Lee Meena of South Korea overcame wet conditions and shot a 7-under 65 Thursday for a two-stroke clubhouse lead in the first round of the Women’s British Open.She had seven birdies and no bogeys in a round played mainly in heavy rain.Brittany Lincicome of the United States started her round early in better conditions and finished with a 67.American Angela Stanford, Sout

Japan’s retail sales rose in June, exceeding all economists’ forecasts, adding to signs that the economy is bouncing back from an initial post-disaster plunge. Sales rose 1.1 percent in June from a year earlier, the Trade Ministry said Thursday in Tokyo. The median estimate of 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.5 percent decline, with the highest estimate for a 0.6 percent gain.