MEXICO CITY (AP) ― Finance officials from the world’s largest economies on Monday called on countries to reject protectionism and currency manipulation despite a raft of economic problems that include the U.S. deficit. Meeting in Mexico City one day before the U.S. elections, the G20 finance ministers issued a statement saying the United States faces “a potential sharp fiscal tightening.” “The United States will carefully calibrate the pace of fiscal tightening to ensure that public finances are

TOKYO (AFP) ― Toyota Motor will hike its operating profit forecast for the year by 5 percent to 1.05 trillion yen ($13 billion) when it releases it earnings later Monday, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported.The country’s biggest automaker saw brisk sales in North America and Southeast Asia offsetting a drop in China revenue stemming from a territorial spat between Tokyo and Beijing, which rival Honda blamed for a 20 percent cut to its net profit forecast for the fiscal year to March, NHK sai

VIENTIANE (AFP) ― Dozens of European and Asian leaders gathered in impoverished Laos on Monday for a major summit dominated by the eurozone debt crisis and growing territorial tensions in the region.Top European officials including French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti were due to spearhead efforts to reassure Asia that the long-running eurozone crisis is finally coming under control.The diplomatic offensive is seen as a sign of the growing importance that deb

MEXICO CITY (AFP) ― G20 finance chiefs held talks Sunday to tackle Europe’s relentless debt saga amid new concerns about Greece, while the United States faced questions about its own fiscal dilemma.Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 top economies began two days of talks in Mexico City focused on easing fears over threats to global growth.The eurozone debt crisis remains at the core of global worries as debt-riddled Greece faces another key deadline to avoid bankrup

Microsoft Corp. is making plans for the possible creation of its own mobile phone to help it gain share in the market for hand-held devices, according to people with knowledge of the company’s plans. The company is considering building mobile hardware as a back up, in the event that its current approach of providing software to handset makers such as Nokia Oyj and HTC Corp. falters, said the people, who requested anonymity because the plans are private. Microsoft is for now confident that its cu

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ― Myanmar’s president has signed long-awaited and much-revised legislation establishing a foreign investment law, state television announced Friday night. The measure is considered essential to attracting capital from abroad to help boost an economy that had been in the doldrums under the country’s previous military governments. Parliament earlier this year had passed a version of the bill, but it was sent back by President Thein Sein for revision. State media reported earli

BERLIN (AFP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday it will take “five years or more” to overcome the euro debt crisis, local media reported.“We have to hold our breath for five years or more,” Merkel told the regional party congress of her Christian Democratic Union at Sternberg in East Germany, the DPA news agency reported.“A lot of investors do not believe that we can keep our promises in Europe,” she said, adding: “We must demonstrate rigour in order to convince the world that it i

Canada is taking more time to review Chinese state-owned CNOOC's takeover bid for Canadian oil and gas producer Nexen. It would be China's biggest overseas energy acquisition.Canada's Industry Minister Christian Paradis said in a statement that the review of the proposed purchase, with its $15.1 billion price tag, has been extended by 30 days until Dec. 10.Extensions under the Act are not unusual, Paradis said. It's the second time the review has been extended.Canada is in the process of studyin

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in October from 7.8 percent the prior month, the government said Friday in a highly anticipated report ahead of the November 6 election.Though the jobless rate ticked up a notch, the economy added 171,000 jobs in October, well above expectations.The Labor Department said the unemployment rate was "essentially unchanged" at 7.9 percent, and noted job growth in professional and business services, health care and the retail sector.The number of unemplo

Damage from the deadly superstorm that blasted the U.S. East Coast and shut down New York City could hit $50 billion, economists said Thursday, but the impact on the broader economy will be minor.The lion’s share of the damage will be felt by New York, where physical damage in low-lying lower Manhattan and the cost of two days of market blackouts and bank closures continued to mount.The massive storm, which swept ashore in New Jersey late Monday, left at least 85 dead in the United States and fo