The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the U.S. economy “paused” in recent months because of temporary factors and reaffirmed its commitment to try to stimulate growth by keeping borrowing costs low for the foreseeable future.The Fed took no new action at its two-day policy meeting. But it stood behind aggressive steps it launched in December to try to reduce unemployment, in a statement released after the meeting.In December, the Fed said it would keep its key short-term interest rate at a rec

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Apple Tuesday unveiled a new iPad with twice the storage capacity as the existing model in an effort to score business with companies that share large amounts of data.Apple’s new iPad will have a capacity of 128 gigabytes compared with the current model, which comes with different memory capacities but has a maximum of 64 gigabytes.“With twice the storage capacity and an unparalleled selection of over 300,000 native iPad apps, enterprises, educators and artists have even more re

TOKYO (AP) ― All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines said they replaced lithium-ion batteries in their Boeing 787 Dreamliners on multiple occasions before a battery overheating incident led to the worldwide grounding of the jets.ANA said Wednesday it replaced batteries on its 787 aircraft some 10 times because they failed to charge properly or showed other problems, and informed Boeing about the swaps. Japan Airlines said it had also replaced lithium-ion batteries on its 787 jets but couldn’t imme

BP PLC closed the book on the Justice Department's criminal probe of its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf oil spill Tuesday, when a U.S. judge agreed to let the London-based oil giant plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the deaths of 11 rig workers and pay a record $4 billion in penalties.What the plea deal approved by U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance doesn't resolve, though, is the federal government's civil claims against BP. The company could pay billions more for environme

Moody's Investors Service downgraded six of Canada's major financial institutions on Monday on concerns over high levels of consumer debt among Canadians and elevated house prices. The ratings affect Toronto-Dominion Bank, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank and the Desjardins caisse populaire.Moody's vice president David Beattie noted Monday that the banks still rank among the highest-rated banks in the world. TD is the highest rated at AA1 among the

Ranchers welcomed Japan's decision Monday to ease restrictions on U.S. beef imports, saying it will provide a boost to the American meat industry but cautioning that it will take time before exports to Japan reach their levels of a decade ago.Japan is one of the biggest importers of U.S. beef, despite restrictions that for years haven't allowed the import of beef from cattle older than 20 months instead of the industry standard of 30 months. Those restricted imports were only allowed after Japan

TOKYO (AP) -- The joint U.S. and Japanese investigation into the Boeing 787's battery problems has shifted from the battery-maker to the manufacturer of a monitoring system.Japan transport ministry official Shigeru Takano said Monday the probe into battery-maker GS Yuasa was over for now as no evidence was found it was the source of the problems.Ministry officials said they will inspect Kanto Aircraft Instrument Co. on Monday as part of the ongoing investigation. It makes a system that monitors

PARIS (AFP) -- The Franco-Japanese automakers Renault-Nissan have signed a deal with Daimler and Ford to develop a fuel cell which would equip electric cars from 2017, a joint statement said on Monday.The three groups plan to hold equal shares in the project and expect to launch the first large scale production of affordable fuel-cell powered vehicles in 2017, the statement said, without providing financial details of the agreement."The collaboration sends a clear signal to suppliers, policymake

NEW YORK (AFP) ― BlackBerry maker Research in Motion begins its comeback bid Wednesday with a new platform launch in a make-or-break move for a firm that is rapidly sinking in the smartphone market it once dominated.The Canada-based company unveils its BlackBerry 10 operating system and handsets in what some see as its last, best chance to remain a major player in an already competitive sector that is nevertheless attracting new entrants.RIM boomed as the maker of “crackberries,” a nickname stem