BEIJING (AP) -- Growth in China's factory production slowed to a three-year low in August, suggesting Beijing might need to launch more stimulus efforts to reverse a painful slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.Inflation climbed to 2 percent as food prices rose, and further increases could complicate efforts by the government to revive growth as Europe struggles with a debt crisis and the U.S. economy remains sluggish.Growth in industrial production weakened to 8.9 percent from July's

THESSALONIKI (AFP) ― More than 12,000 protesters marched Saturday against fresh austerity measures the Greek government has prepared to win another slice of an international bailout loan.As auditors from Greece’s international creditors inspected the government’s books, four separate marches took place in the northern city of Thessaloniki.“The Greek people can’t take any more,” read one banner. A number of ambulances joined the demonstration: hospital workers are among those hit, both by salary

China's consumer price inflation accelerated slightly in August amid higher costs for food, official data showed Sunday, but producer prices continued to fall amid the country's slowing economic growth.Consumer prices rose 2.0 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics said, as food prices increased 3.4 percent. Inflation stood at 1.8 percent in July.Producer prices -- which measure c

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) ― Asia and Pacific leaders meeting in the Russian seaport of Vladivostok this weekend urgently need to push ahead with their agenda for freer trade. Faltering vital signs in China and elsewhere suggest the global recovery may depend on it.The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum aims to foster growth by dismantling barriers and bottlenecks that slow trade and business, while nurturing closer economic ties. But election-year politics and territorial spats are weakening

Unlimited bond plan to help lower borrowing costs for struggling countriesFRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ― The European Central Bank unveiled its most ambitious plan yet to ease Europe’s financial crisis with a plan to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds to help lower borrowing costs for countries struggling to manage their debts. Large-scale purchases of short-term government bonds would drive up their price and push down their interest rate, or yield, taking some pressure off of financially str

The European Central Bank unveiled its most ambitious plan yet to halt Europe's financial crisis on Thursday with a pledge to buy unlimited amounts of the government bonds of countries struggling to manage their debts.Large-scale purchases of short-term government bonds would drive up their price and push down their interest rate, or yield, making it less expensive for countries to borrow money. T

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Apple on Tuesday invited members of the media to a Sept. 12 event in San Francisco for what is expected to be the debut of a new-generation iPhone.Email invitations bore the cryptic message, “It’s almost here,” and a large number “12” casting a shadow that appeared to be the number five, suggesting that the event would spotlight the long-anticipated iPhone 5.Leaks and rumors portray the new iPhone as having a larger touch-screen than its predecessor and say that it will be

ATHENS (AFP) ― Greece faces a longer recession if the country is forced by EU peers to apply cuts worth 11.6 billion euros ($14.4 billion) over two years instead of four, a state-sponsored study said on Tuesday.“In the case where the 11.6 billion euros in agreed government spending cuts are implemented (over) a two-year period, we adopt the hypothesis that the 2012 recession will continue in 2013 and 2014,” the Center of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) said in a bulletin.Greece has been se

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Samsung forces employees at its Chinese factories to work up to five times the legal overtime limit, bans them from sitting down and denies basic labor rights, according to a US-based watchdog.According to China Labor Watch‘s probe of eight factories, the South Korean electronics giant is guilty of widespread “legal and inhumane violations.”These include forcing workers at the Tianjin Samsung Mobile Display factory to put in as many as 189 hours of overtime in a month, when the

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Treasury Department said Tuesday that the national debt has topped $16 trillion, the result of chronic government deficits that have poured more than $50,000 worth of red ink onto federal ledgers for every man, woman and child in the United States.The news was greeted with a round of press releases from Barack Obama’s Republican rivals, who used the grim-but-expected news to criticize the president for the government’s fiscal performance over his 3 1/2 years in office. Obam