China’s economy grew at a slower pace last quarter, a moderation that may ease inflation pressures in the world’s second-biggest economy. Gross domestic product expanded 9.5 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said in Beijing Wednesday, after a 9.7 percent gain in the first quarter. That compared with the median 9.3 percent estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 18 economists. Indus

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The International Monetary Fund urged Rome to be decisive on cutting its deficit Tuesday as investors dumped Italian bonds and the country’s leaders rushed to pass a massive austerity plan.Amid worries that Italy could follow Greece and Portugal into a financial maelstrom and require a bailout, the IMF praised Italy’s reform program that has already cut its current deficit to 4.

A Porsche 911 GT2 RS automobile is released to the media on Friday. (Bloomberg)Porsche AG may develop a supercar positioned higher than the 911 GT2 RS to broaden its line-up and sustain growth as orders cool from record deliveries last year. The car could be combined with additional variants of the Cayman and Boxster as well as extended-wheelbase and convertible versions of the Panamera four-door

Australia’s largest airline says the tax will cost as much as $123 million in 2013Macarthur Coal Ltd., BlueScope Steel Ltd., and Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. led declines in Australian trading Monday after the government unveiled the country’s first levy on greenhouse-gas emissions. Polluters will pay AU$23 ($24.74) per metric ton of carbon emissions, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Sunday in Canbe

Truckers drive past stacks of transport containers at Chiwan Container Terminals, Port of Shekou in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. (Bloomberg)Consumer prices climbed 6.4 percent, the most in three yearsChina’s trade surplus widened more than forecast to $22.3 billion in June, the highest level in seven months, as imports grew at the slowest pace since 2009. The gap exceeded all the 21 estima

Shoppers enter the Apple Inc. Store on Fifth Avenue in New York. (Bloomberg)NEW YORK (AFP) ― Apple plans to launch its next-generation iPhone during the third quarter of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.The newspaper, citing “people familiar with the situation,” said Apple has placed orders for key components to used in the new version of the iPhone and that it would be thin

In two years since brush with death, auto industry has added jobs faster than rest of economyDETROIT (AP) ― Volkswagen opened a plant in Tennessee last month with 2,000 workers. Honda is hiring 1,000 in Indiana to meet demand for its best-selling Civic. General Motors is looking for 2,500 in Detroit to build the Chevy Volt.Two years after the end of the Great Recession, the auto industry is hiring

Twitter Inc. logos are displayed on computer screens. (Bloomberg)Twitter Inc., the microblogging site that lets users post 140-character messages, is raising funding that values the startup at about $7 billion, said a person with knowledge of the matter. The San Francisco-based company is in talks with investors to receive hundreds of millions of dollars, said the person, who asked not to be named

Planes are being built out of the same lightweight materials used for Formula 1 race cars. Their engines are being redesigned to squeeze more thrust out of every gallon of fuel. And governments are developing air-traffic systems that will allow airlines to fly shorter routes.Those and other advances have positioned airlines for the biggest gains in fuel efficiency since the dawn of the jet age in

Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager of Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Palm business unit, holds HP’s TouchPad tablet device during the Uplinq conference in San Diego, California. (Bloomberg)NEW YORK (AFP) ― U.S. technology giant Hewlett-Packard rolled out its new TouchPad tablet computer on Friday, seeking to dethrone the dominant Apple iPad and revive its slumping fortunes.The TouchP

NAGOYA (AP) ― Tiger Woods has signed a three-year deal to promote a Japanese pain reliever, his first endorsement since he was caught in a sex scandal toward the end of 2009.The deal with Kowa Company Ltd. is geared only toward the market in Japan. Woods already has filmed commercials for “Vantelin Kowa,” a heat rub used to relieve muscle and joint pain. The commercial is to be shown in Japan star

A former national football team forward became the latest to turn himself in to top football authorities for ties to match fixing schemes, the nation’s first-division league announced Wednesday.Choi Sung-kuk, currently with the Suwon Samsung Bluewings, came clean on Tuesday and the case is now in the hands of prosecutors, an official with K-League said.Choi is the second known case to report himse

CLEVELAND (AP) ― Indians outfielder Choo Shin-soo could miss up to two and a half months after having surgery on his broken left thumb.Choo’s thumb was broken Friday night in San Francisco when he was struck while batting in the fourth inning by Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez. Choo’s finger was also cut and required stitches.On Tuesday, Choo’s thumb was repaired at the Cleveland Clinic by han