China, Asia’s biggest oil consumer, increased retail gasoline and diesel prices for the first time this year, aiding state refiners under pressure from $100 crude and prompting bets further increases will come.Shares in China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the nation’s biggest refiner, rose as much as 2 percent in Hong Kong and 1.3 percent in Shanghai.“The price hike will offset some of the cost pres

Spain’s decision to force lenders to meet stricter capital rules or risk state ownership will provide a boon to bankers and lawyers helping them raise funds with stock market listings and asset sales.Spanish banks may raise as much as 20 billion euros ($27.3 billion) by selling stock in initial public offerings and reducing their stakes in publicly traded companies in the next two years, according

U.S. lawmakers vote to cut $61 billion in government spendingWASHINGTON (AFP) ― Historic spending cuts approved Saturday by the U.S. House of Representatives face a grim future in the Senate, raising the prospects of a government shutdown and ramping up the public relations blame game.After a marathon floor debate running well past midnight, the Republican-controlled House voted to cut about $61 b

BEIJING (AP) ― Spiraling prices have made the grocery store a scary place for Chu Yun, a 27-year-old office clerk.“Prices for everything are going up and it seems it will never stop,” Chu said as she hunted for bargains in a supermarket. “I have no confidence prices can be brought under control this year. I think they will keep going up.”China’s public is struggling with a months-long surge in foo

Central bank upgrades 2011 growth forecasts, but remains pessimistic on jobsWASHINGTON (AP) ― Some Federal Reserve officials last month raised the possibility of scaling back the Fed’s $600 billion Treasury bond purchase program out of fear that a strengthening economy could spur high inflation.The minutes from the Fed’s Jan. 25-26 meeting were released on the same day that the government reported

Proposal trims defense spending, limits tax benefits for the rich and freezes many domestic programsWASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama will send Congress on Monday a $3 trillion-plus budget for 2012 that promises $1.1 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade by freezing many domestic programs for five years, trimming military spending and limiting tax deductions for the wealthy.Jac

Athens slams debt inspectors after IMF and EU visit, accusing them of overstepping rolesATHENS (AP) ― An indignant Greece slammed EU and International Monetary Fund inspectors overseeing its efforts to reform its debt-crippled economy, accusing them Saturday of overstepping their role and interfering in Greece’s internal affairs.In an unusually harshly worded, pre-dawn statement, government spokes

PEBBLE BEACH, California (AP) ― D.A. Points knew it was going to be a great week at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am when he found out Bill Murray was his amateur partner.It got even better Thursday.Points found Murray’s antics to be more amusing than annoying, and it showed in his play. With eight birdies on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula, he opened with a 7-under 63 and shared the lead w

IMF chief urges bigger global role for yuan, emerging economies' currenciesWASHINGTON (AFP) ― IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Thursday said the currencies of China and other emerging economies should play a greater role in global finance, as part of a bid to promote monetary stability.Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the 187-nation International Monetary Fund, backed the inclusion of the

BOSTON (AP) ― Kobe Bryant scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half, and the Los Angeles Lakers spoiled Ray Allen’s record-setting night by beating the Boston Celtics 92-86 in an NBA finals rematch Thursday night.Allen became the NBA’s career leader in 3-pointers in the first quarter, but Bryant later put him on the bench in foul trouble during his big second half that rallied Los Angeles from

ROME (AFP) ― Italian magistrates on Wednesday will request that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi face a fast-track trial over allegations he had sex with an underage girl and abused his powers to help her.Chief prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati and his fellow judges in Milan have finished an inquiry into allegations that the 74-year-old premier paid for sex with a nightclub dancer nicknamed Ruby t

Choi Hak-young, a 37-year-old office worker in Seoul, grew up seeing people smoking just about everywhere in South Korea, including at subway stations and even on city buses and airplanes.Today, South Korea is no longer a smokers’ haven. The social environment of smoking has changed so much over the years, and smokers like Choi too often find themselves unwelcome almost everywhere in the country.

Russia, the only one of the so-called BRIC countries without capital controls, is following China and Turkey in relying on reserve requirements to drain cash from the economy and avoid luring more speculative investment.“We stand ready to continue increasing mandatory requirements, if needed,” Bank Rossii Chairman Sergey Ignatiev said in Frankfurt on Feb. 4. Policy makers will “act decisively to m

Market fears unrest could disrupt flow of oil from the Middle EastNEW YORK (AP) ― A key global oil price contract topped $100 per barrel on Monday for the first time since 2008, as investors kept an anxious eye on Egypt and worried about unrest there disrupting the flow of oil from the Middle East.While Egypt is not a major oil-producing country, each day about two million barrels of oil pass thro