BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The first round in two weeks of tough talks on the European Union budget collapsed Friday after austerity-minded states refused to plug a 2012 budget shortfall in funds destined for Europe's needy.Friday’s talks had been scheduled to approve a budget for 2013 but instead snagged straight off on an 8.9-billion-euro ($11.3-billion) hole in this year's spending, according to figures provided by the European Commission.Approval for the massive EU budget must be agreed between the 2

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― Debt-laden Greece should get more time and more aid if necessary to put its financial house in order and remain in the eurozone, a member of the European Central Bank said in an interview published on Saturday.“It is preferable that Greece remains in the eurozone,” Jorg Asmussen, a German ECB board member, told the Belgian economic daily l’Echo.“If that means additional aid for one or two years more, that will be significantly less expensive than it leaving (the eurozone) or a d

COPENHAGEN (AFP) ― Denmark said Saturday it would scrap a fat tax it introduced a little over a year ago in a world first, saying the measure was costly and failed to change Danes’ eating habits.“The fat tax and the extension of the chocolate tax ― the so-called sugar tax ― has been criticized for increasing prices for consumers, increasing companies’ administrative costs and putting Danish jobs at risk,” the Danish tax ministry said in a statement.“At the same time it is believed that the fat t

BBC top executive quits after network wrongly implicated politician in sex abuse scandal

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) -- China's trade surplus widened in October from the previous month as exports grew faster than imports, the Chinese customs office said Saturday. The world's second-largest economy posted a trade surplus of US $32 billion last month, compared with $27.7 billion in September, according to the General Administration of Customs. Exports went up 11.6 percent on-year to $175.6 billion in October, while imports rose 2.4 percent to $143.6 billion.The expansion both in exports a

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The International Monetary Fund has warned that austerity programs in Europe’s most troubled economies could have political limits, as resistance grows in Greece and Portugal over their bailout terms.In a briefing made for the Nov. 4-5 meeting of G20 leading economies in Mexico and released Thursday in Washington, the IMF said that financial conditions in the eurozone “remain fragile” and there are risks that countries asking for support will be unable to fulfill adjustment de

Key greenhouse gas emitter Australia on Friday announced it was ready to sign up for a second round of the Kyoto Protocol environmental protection treaty."Today I can announce that Australia is ready to join a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol," Climate Minister Greg Combet said in a speech.Australia is among the world's worst per capita polluters, with a heavy reliance on coal mining and exports. Most of its electricity comes from coal-fired power stations.Combet's announcement com

Greece’s Parliament narrowly passes crucial austerity bill; government reeling from dissent

BEIJING (AFP) ― Most Chinese see the widening income gap as the country’s main problem over the next decade, according to a survey published Tuesday which highlighted a key challenge confronting the incoming leadership.Some 75 percent of respondents polled by the official China Youth Daily cited “serious rich-poor divide” as the issue most likely to hinder the country’s development over the next 10 years, the paper said.The online nationwide survey covered more than 11,400 people born between 19