DETROIT (AP) ― Ford is recalling more than 202,000 cars, vans and trucks in North America in five separate recalls to fix gas leaks, air bag sensors, stalling and other issues.The company says the problems have caused one accident, but it’s not aware of injuries in any of the cases.The biggest of the recalls announced Tuesday affects about 135,000 F-150 pickups and Ford Flex family haulers from the 2014 model year. Faulty passenger seat weight sensors can stop air bags from inflating in crashes.

Pedestrians look at an electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Tuesday. (Bloomberg)TOKYO (AFP) ― The Bank of Japan’s surprise move to inflate its already huge stimulus program exposes the cracks in Tokyo’s plan to conquer deflation and boost growth, economists say, but it may give the government room to hike sales taxes again.On Friday, the central bank said it would widen its asset-buying plan by as much as 20 trillion yen ($182 billion), bringing it to an eye-popping 80 tr

Eurozone growth forecast cut from 1.1% to 1.7%

DETROIT (AP) ― Falling gas prices improved buyers’ moods and boosted sales of SUVs and trucks in October.GM, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan, Volkswagen and Honda all reported sales gains last month. Of major automakers, only Ford and Hyundai saw declines.Industry sales rose 6 percent over last October, according to Autodata Corp. The national average price of gasoline fell 33 cents to end October at 80 cents a liter, according to AAA. Gasoline is now the cheapest it has been in four years, and the dec

NEW YORK (AP) ― The silvery skyscraper that rose from the ashes of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks to become a symbol of American resilience opened for business Monday, as 175 employees of the magazine publishing giant Conde Nast settled into their first day of work there.The opening of the country’s tallest building, One World Trade Center, marked a symbolic return to a sense of normalcy for the site where the twin towers fell more than 13 years ago.“The New York City skyline is whole again,”

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier Sprint said Monday it was slashing 2,000 jobs in a streamlining effort after reporting a $765 million quarterly loss.Sprint, which earlier this year replaced its chief executive after a failed bid for rival T-Mobile, also reported losing a large number of its most lucrative customers, amid price wars in the wireless sector.Chief executive Marcelo Claure said Sprint was adapting to the shifting industry landscape.“We have started a transformational j

NEW YORK (AFP) ― The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation of JPMorgan Chase’s foreign exchange trading business, the bank disclosed Monday in a securities filing.JPMorgan said it is cooperating with the DOJ probe and with other U.S. and foreign investigations related to manipulation in the forex trade, as it raised its estimate of related legal costs by $1.3 billion to $5.9 billion.The foreign exchange probes focus on the bank’s “spot FX trading activities as well as

WASHINGTON (AP) ― With the Federal Reserve’s role in the U.S. economic recovery at a crossroads, Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Monday sat down with President Barack Obama in their first face-to-face meeting since she assumed her post as head of the American central bank in February. The White House said the two discussed their perspectives on the economy both at home and abroad.The White House called the meeting “part of an ongoing dialogue on the state of the economy, financial reform, and other ec

At the height of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests last month, jewelry chain Chow Sang Sang Holdings International Ltd. had to shut down two of its five stores along a stretch of Nathan Road in Mong Kok. The busy area, one of three locations still blockaded by protesters, commands some of the highest retail rents in the city. Yet with 56 outlets across the city selling gold and Rolexes, the company has weathered the disruptions as its other outlets benefited from displaced business. “We lost ab

Bill Gates. (Bloomberg)WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. philanthropist Bill Gates on Sunday announced he will donate over $500 million to fight malaria and other infectious diseases in the developing world, saying the Ebola outbreak is a call to action.The former Microsoft CEO told the 63rd annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans that his Gates Foundation is committing more than $500 million in 2014 “to reduce the burden of malaria, pneumonia, diarrheal dise