RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (AP) ― Through silence and prayers, people across Japan on Sunday remembered the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation one year ago, killing just over 19,000 people and unleashing the world’s worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century.In the devastated northeastern coastal town of Rikuzentakata, a siren sounded at 2:46 p.m. ― the exact time the magnitude-9.0 quake struck on March 11, 2011 ― and a Buddhist priest in a purple robe rang a huge bell at a damaged t

SAO PAULO (AP) ― The Brazilian government officially asked Mexico to set a $1.4 billion annual limit on the auto exports it ships to Brazil, an official with direct knowledge of trade talks between the two nations said Friday.Brazil has threatened to scrap a decade-old automotive trade pact with Mexico and start charging tariffs on Mexican-built cars as it battles a growing trade deficit in the auto sector.Officials from the two nations have held talks since February in an effort to reach an acc

  TEHRAN (AFP) ― Boosting exports from India to Iran would not only help right lopsided trade but also deepen ties between the two countries, a major Indian delegation said on Saturday at the start of a five-day visit.“New Delhi is seeking to increase its exports to Iran and sees the increase in trade as a sign of deepening relations,” Rafeeq Ahmed, president of the government-backed Federation of Indian Export Organisations, told a Tehran meeting of Iranian businessmen.“New Delhi gives ample im

BEIJING (AFP) ― China swung into a huge trade deficit of $31.48 billion in February, customs data showed Saturday, as the West’s economic troubles hit the world’s second-largest economy.China is normally a net exporter of goods ― it recorded a surplus of $27.28 billion in January ― but total monthly imports rose 39.6 percent year-on-year to $145.96 billion, with exports only going up 18.4 percent to $114.47 billion.Chinese firms’ efforts to sell to the country’s major trading partners in the Wes

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Coca-Cola and Pepsi said Friday they will lower levels of a chemical in caramel coloring to comply with a California law, but insisted the beverages pose no health risks and recipes will not change.The changes allow the companies to avoid having to label products with a cancer warning due to what California has ruled are high levels of 4-methylimidazole, shown to cause cancer in lab rodents.Both drink makers said the popular soda recipes will not be affected but that caramel s

Iceland will either adopt the euro after joining the European Union or drop the krona and unilaterally adopt another currency as “the situation can’t remain unchanged,” said Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir. “The choice is between surrendering the sovereignty of Iceland in monetary policy by unilaterally adopting the currency of another country or become a member of the EU,” Sigurdardottir said in a speech delivered at a Social Democrat Alliance party convention Saturday in Reykjavik, the c

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) ― Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed 16 Palestinians, including a top militant, medics said early Sunday, as militants fired 100 rockets into the Jewish state.It was the deadliest violence between Israel and the Palestinians across the Gaza border in more than three years, prompting the United States and the European Union to urge both sides to restore calm.But Palestinian militants vowed to avenge their dead and Israel threatened to hit back if its citiz

MOSCOW (AP) ― A protest rally against Vladimir Putin has drawn more than 20,000 people, far fewer than those in past months as the opposition movement appears to be losing momentum following Putin’s presidential election victory.Speeches by young activists like 27-year-old Maxim Kats, however, showed that some of the new political energy that has emerged in Russia in recent months is being channeled into local politics and civic activism. Kats and two others in their 20s, who just won seats on m

Two European leaders have opposing views on how to handle the continent's financial crisis, yet remain friends, an official said."There is a relationship of trust, even if there may be issues on which their views differ," said a French official, speaking on the relationship of International Monetary