WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The Washington Post has a new publisher, owner Jeff Bezos said Tuesday in his latest move to reshape the prestigious daily for the digital age, ending a long era of family management.Bezos, the Internet entrepreneur and founder of Amazon, named Fred Ryan as publisher and chief executive, replacing Katharine Weymouth, the scion of the family that has run the paper for decades.Ryan is a former Reagan administration official and part of the founding leadership team of Politico, a

NEW YORK (AP) ― Home Depot may be the latest retailer to suffer a major credit card data breach.The Atlanta-based home improvement retailer told the Associated Press Tuesday that it is working with both banks and law enforcement to investigate “unusual activity” that would point to a hack.“Protecting our customers’ information is something we take extremely seriously, and we are aggressively gathering facts at this point while working to protect customers,” said Paula Drake, a spokeswoman at Hom

GENEVA (AP) ― The United States’ competitiveness among global economies has risen to the No. 3 spot behind Switzerland and Singapore in rankings published annually by the World Economic Forum. In its latest survey, released early Wednesday, the Forum said the U.S. ― the world’s largest economy ― moved up two spots from fifth position last year, thanks to improvements in its financial markets and public institutions. Six European countries dominated the top 10: Switzerland, Finland, Germany, the

BRATISLAVA (AFP) ― Ukraine began receiving gas from the European Union via Slovakia on Tuesday, part of a deal brokered by Brussels to reduce Kiev’s energy dependence on Russia amid an escalating armed crisis.Russia in mid-June cut its deliveries to Ukraine after a pro-Western government took power, saying that Kiev had not be paying its bills on time. Visiting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Slovak counterpart Robert Fico presided over the switching on of a pipeline linking Slova

MILWAUKEE (AP) ― President Barack Obama renewed his push for Congress to raise the minimum wage Monday in a buoyant accounting of the economy’s “revving” performance, delivered on behalf of Democrats opening their fall campaigns for the midterm congressional elections.“America deserves a raise,” he told a union crowd in Milwaukee, vowing to keep a hard sell on Congress in much the way he once courted his wife. “I just wore her down,” he cracked.Timing his push to Labor Day, the traditional start

Apple Inc. plans to turn its next iPhone into a mobile wallet through a partnership with major payment networks, banks and retailers, according to a person familiar with the situation. The agreement includes Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and American Express Co. and will be unveiled on Sept. 9 along with the next iPhone, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The new iPhone will make mobile payment easier by including a near-field communication chip for the f

Billionaire Xavier Niel’s Iliad SA is talking to private-equity firms about teaming to make an improved offer for Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile U.S. Inc. unit, according to people familiar with the matter. Iliad’s discussions with potential partners may accelerate after Deutsche Telekom indicated it is willing to negotiate a sale if an offer puts a valuation of at least $35 a share on the business, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The German company