Experts say Boeing 787 incidents likely caused by overcharged batteries

GENEVA (AFP) ― Reviving the global economy and the conflicts in Syria and Mali will top the agenda as world leaders and business chiefs meet this week in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for its annual gathering of international power brokers.Some 45 heads of state or government will keep company with the 2,500 participants descending on the picturesque Alpine town for the five-day World Economic Forum starting on Tuesday.Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and B

U.S. lawmakers geared up for a tough budget battle Saturday after Republicans agreed to a three-month increase to the U.S. debt ceiling but made further extensions of the government's borrowing authority conditional on steep spending cuts.   The Republican-led House of Representatives will hold a vote next week on the temporary measure, Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced at the end of his party's two-day work retreat outside Washington.The move could help defuse a fiscal time bomb that Congre

China's economy is finally rebounding from its deepest slump since the 2008 global crisis but the shaky recovery could be vulnerable to a new downturn in global trade.Growth rose to 7.9 percent in the three months ending in December, up from the previous quarter's 7.4 percent data showed Friday. For the year, the economy grew by 7.8 percent, which was China's weakest annual performance since the 1990s.Retail spending and factory output rose, but analysts say China could suffer a setback if expor

Renesas Electronics Corp., the ailing Japanese chipmaker, plans to cut more than 3,000 additional jobs as it prepares to raise at least 150 billion yen ($1.7 billion) from a government-backed fund and customers. Renesas began talks with labor unions Thursday and plans to eliminate the positions through buyouts by Sept. 30, the Kawasaki-based company said in a statement. No upper limit for buyout applications has been set, and the impact on earnings hasn’t been determined, Renesas said. The reduc

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The IMF on Wednesday released 838.8 million euros ($1.11 billion) in bailout funds to Portugal after a review of the country’s program to restructure its finances.The newest release in its three-year, 27.51 billion euro aid program for Portugal came four days after International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said the country is “on the right track” in meeting economic reform targets set by its international creditors in exchange for rescue funding.Total disbursements u

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Australia’s competition watchdog on Thursday gave Qantas and Emirates Airlines permission to begin implementing their global alliance but said final approval was still pending.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which gave the carriers preliminary approval in December to combine operations for an initial five years, said that practical sales, marketing and other steps could now start.The ACCC is allowing Qantas and Emirates to start implementing their alliance beca

The euro’s 8.4 percent gain against the U.S. dollar in the past six months is posing a fresh threat to the European economy just as it shows signs of escaping the debt crisis, said Jean-Claude Juncker, who leads the group of euro-area finance ministers. Echoing policy makers from Switzerland to Japan in bemoaning strong exchange rates, Juncker late yesterday called the euro’s value “dangerously high” after the 17-nation currency this week traded above $1.34 against the dollar for the first time