HELSINKI (AFP) ― Finland plans to raise its retirement age to strengthen public finances and encourage Finns to work more, Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen said after his coalition government clinched a deal.The government plans to propose increasing the effective retirement age to 62.4 years by 2025, a year and a half higher than it is today.The retirement age to obtain a full pension in the country is 65, but Finns stop working earlier on average, as in many other countries in the Organization fo

Eurozone unemployment was unchanged at an “unacceptable” record 12.1 percent in July but another slight fall in the total jobless after an improvement in June offered some hope, official data showed on Friday.The number of people without work in the 17-nation eurozone fell 15,000 to 19.23 million, after a drop of 35,000 in June, the Eurostat statistics agency said.In the full 28-member European Union ― including Croatia which joined in July ― the unemployment rate was unchanged at 11 percent, wi

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from April through June, much faster than previously estimated. The steep revision was largely because U.S. companies exported more goods and imports declined. The Commerce Department said second-quarter growth was sharply higher than the initial 1.7 percent rate it reported last month. And the growth this spring was more than double the 1.1 percent rate from January through March. The improvement in the trade deficit helped of

The U.S. and Switzerland agreed to resolve a long-running dispute over offshore tax evasion by letting some banks voluntarily disclose wrongdoing and turn over account information on American clients, a senior Justice Department official familiar with the matter said. The accord divides Swiss banks into four tiers: 14 banks under criminal investigation; those allowed to avoid prosecution by disclosing wrongdoing; those without wrongdoing to disclose; and those complying with U.S. anti-tax evasio

The growing likelihood of Western military action against Syria pummeled Asian stock markets Wednesday and sent the price of oil soaring.Fears that the U.S., Britain and other countries are gearing up to confront Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians rose after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S. military stands ready to strike against Syria if President Barack Obama gives the order.“While we believe that the market tensions should not last for too long ... sen

South Korean stocks have gone from Asia’s most-hated equities to the favorites of international investors after valuations fell to a six-year low versus global shares and exports rebounded. Foreign money managers bought a net $1.04 billion of South Korean equities this month, the most among 10 Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg, following $7.2 billion of withdrawals this year through July. The nation’s stocks trade at the same value as companies’ net assets, versus 1.9 times for the MSCI All-Cou

Spanish police arrested Tuesday a former JP Morgan trader wanted by the United States on criminal charges in the massive "London Whale" fraud case.Officers arrested Spanish national Javier Martin-Artajo Rueda on an international detention request issued by the United States for alleged fraud and tax crimes, police said in a statement.After locating Martin-Artajo, Spanish police spoke to him and managed to get him to appear at a police station where he was arrested on Tuesday morning, police said

China became on Tuesday the last of the G20 nations to sign up to an international pact to help crack down on tax evasion by stepping up the automatic data exchange, the OECD said.The Group of 20 advanced and emerging nations pledged two years ago to sign up the pact as they stepped up efforts amid the global crisis to recover billions in funds that slip into offshore tax havens each year."Today's signing is both timely and important as the G20 has endorsed automatic exchange of information as t