Chinese citizens in cities show growing demand for nutritional supplementsEvery time she takes a business trip to the United States or Europe, Wang Qi is given a shopping list by relatives and friends. Every time, the list is filled with names of high-end cosmetics brands and luxury items.Recently, however, that list has grown. The 32-year-old Beijing-based executive assistant says she doesn’t remember when the list started to grow but the names of nutritional supplements have been piling up. Sh

Starbucks Corp. is planning a bigger push into smaller cities in China as the world’s largest coffee- shop operator triples stores in the country that will become its second-biggest market by 2014. The company will have 1,500 stores in more than 70 Chinese cities by 2015 and expansion through smaller cities is “most definitely” a viable way to grow, John Culver, head for China and Asia Pacific, said Monday in an interview at the Boao Forum for Asia in the southern province of Hainan. The added s

BAMAKO (AP) ― The junior officer who overthrew Mali’s democratically elected leader earlier this month and dissolved the nation’s constitution made a public U-turn, declaring amid enormous international pressure that he was reinstating the 1992 constitution and planning to hold elections.Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo added Sunday that he would organize a national convention to agree on a transitional government which will organize free and fair elections. What he did not make clear is when the conven

MEXICO CITY (AP) ― Former President Miguel de la Madrid, who led Mexico from 1982 to 1988 during an economic crisis and a devastating earthquake, died Sunday at age 77, the government said.De la Madrid was the first in a string of presidents who pulled Mexico away from a state-dominated economy and toward free trade by bringing the country into the precursor to the World Trade Organization and by privatizing hundreds of government businesses.President Felipe Calderon called De la Madrid “a Mexic

WAH THIN KHA, Myanmar (AP) ― Myanmar held a landmark election Sunday that was expected to send democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament for her first public office since launching her decades-long struggle against the military-dominated government.Sunday’s by-election, to fill a few dozen vacant seats, followed months of surprising reforms by a nominally civilian government that does not relish ceding ground to Suu Kyi, but which must appear more democratic in order to emerge from decades

SHANGHAI (AP) ― Chinese manufacturing gained momentum for a fourth straight month in March, helped by a recovery in the auto, tobacco and electronics sectors, though analysts said conflicting data suggest lingering weakness.The state-affiliated China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Sunday that its purchasing managers index, or PMI, rose 2.1 points to 53.1 in March, up from February’s 51.0 and January’s 50.5. A reading above 50 signifies expansion.The rise in new factory orders sugges

When Best Buy Co. said it was closing 50 big stores and opening 100 smaller ones, the world’s largest electronics retailer was adjusting to reality: The era of big-box retail dominance is coming to an end. The new mantra is small box. While Best Buy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. are still opening large stores, all are putting increasing emphasis on smaller ones. Best Buy plans to double the number of its smaller Best Buy Mobile stores by 2016. Wal-Mart is building as many as 100 small-f

Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said he supports U.S. nominee Jim Yong Kim’s bid to lead the World Bank. Kim’s work on HIV/AIDS in the World Health Organization shows the 52-year-old physician has expertise on developing nation issues, Azumi said Sunday. “He is a highly competent individual who spearheaded efforts and contributed to AIDS issues,” Azumi spoke to reporters Sunday in Tokyo after meeting Kim. “We judge he’s an appropriate candidate for the World Bank and support his bid.” Before

COPENHAGEN (AFP) ― Germany on Friday laid out proposals to break the deadlock on a controversial EU tax on financial transactions, arguing for a levy only on company shares as a first step before broadening it out.German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble circulated the plan, obtained by AFP, to his EU counterparts ahead of a debate on the issue on the second and final day of a meeting here.Schaeuble acknowledged “it will not be possible to attain unanimous approval of the FTT (financial transa

CAIRO (AP) ― Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, in control of almost half the seats in parliament, announced on Saturday it was fielding its own presidential candidate. It was a reversal of an earlier decision to stay out of the race and could put the group on a collision course with the nation’s ruling generals.The Brotherhood nominated chief strategist and deputy leader Khayrat el-Shater, a multimillionaire businessman considered one of the key leaders guiding the group through the tumultuous transit