FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Luxury carmaker BMW AG has posted record sales for 2013, keeping its No. 1 spot in the market for high-priced cars against its German competitors Audi and Mercedes.The Munich-based company said Monday it sold 1.66 million vehicles under the BMW brand, 7.5 percent more than last year.The figure was boosted by strong sales of the brand's mainstay 3-series sedan and X1 small SUV as well as by rising demand in China and the United States. Sales of the 3-series rose 23 perc

BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union's antitrust watchdog is investigating whether some clauses demanded by major U.S. film studios in their contracts with Europe's largest pay TV broadcasters hurt competition.The probe, unveiled Monday, covers Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal and Paramount Pictures.Studios mostly sell film rights for use in only one country, rather than across the EU's 28 nations. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it is investi

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Time magazine on Wednesday named Pope Francis its person of the year, saying that in nine months in office the head of the Catholic Church had become a new voice of conscience."Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly -- young and old, faithful and cynical -- as Pope Francis," explained Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs.

The U.S. economy will probably expand at a 2 percent annualized rate in the final three months of the year, less than economists projected at the start of the budget impasse that resulted in a 16-day government shutdown.The median projection of 71 economists surveyed by Bloomberg yesterday compares with a 2.4 percent forecast in an Oct. 4-9 survey.Gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced in the nation, will accelerate to a 2.6 percent growth rate in the first three mont

BERLIN (AFP) -- The German government said Friday it would like to talk to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden in Russia but that he did not meet the requirements for asylum.After a meeting between a German lawmaker and Snowden in Moscow in which the former NSA contractor offered to provide insider knowledge on U.S. espionage activities, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Berlin was interested.“If the message is that Mr Snowden wants to give us information, then we would gladly accept

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The United Nations says that 979 Iraqis died in attacks in October, a monthly death toll that is exactly the same as the figure for September.U.N. envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, is urging Iraqi political leaders to take bold actions to halt the “current mayhem.”Violence has spiked recently amid political and sectarian tensions, raising fears that Iraq might be heading toward a second round of sectarian strife.The grim report released on Friday by the U.N. mission says that out

The Doosan Bears defeated the Samsung Lions 7-2 to open the Korean Series here on Thursday, taking a major first step toward the Korea Baseball Organization championship.Visiting Daegu Stadium, the Bears pounded the Lions' pitching for 12 hits, including two solo home runs, in the resounding victory to start the best-of-seven showdown.Shortstop Son Si-heon, making his first postseason start this year, went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs to pace the Bears' offense.The second game will be ba

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week as California continued to work through a backlog.Jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 350,000 in the week ended Oct. 19 from a revised 362,000 in the prior period, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington.The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease to 340,000. Applications in California remained elevated and analysts weren’t able to determine how many non- federa

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia on Thursday angrily dismissed espionage accusations against a Russian cultural exchange official in Washington, saying the U.S. claims were unfounded.The FBI is looking into whether Yury Zaytsev, the head of a Russian government-run cultural exchange program, tried to recruit young Americans as intelligence assets, a U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe was still underway.The magazi