international

• March trade deficit drops by bigger-than-expected amount
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in March as demand for imports fell by the largest amount since the last recession was ending.
   
  
• EBay's PayPal rule in Australia draws fire
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - EBay Inc. is exploring whether to require customers to use its online payment service PayPal, a move that has angered users and prompted antitrust scrutiny in Australia, where a PayPal-only rule takes effect next month.
   
  
• German insurer Allianz 1Q net profit falls 65 percent
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - German insurer Allianz SE said Friday first-quarter net profit fell 65 percent due to difficult market conditions as it wrote down $1.3 billion tied to the U.S. subprime crisis.
   
  
• Japanese shares drop on Toyota outlook
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  TOKYO (AP) - Japanese shares dropped Friday as selling spread across the board following Toyota's bleak earnings projection.
   
  
• Japan Airlines reduces losses in latest quarter
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  TOKYO (AP) - Japan Airlines reduced losses in the January-March quarter from a year earlier on cost cuts but forecast lower profit Friday for this fiscal year, blaming soaring fuel costs and intense competition.
   
  
• Diageo brews Irish Guinness overhaul
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Guinness beer owner Diageo PLC rattled an Irish icon Friday, announcing plans to lay off more than half of its brewery workers, close two breweries and shift most beer production to a new, high-tech plant in the Dublin suburbs by 2013.
   
  
• ArcelorMittal sues Esmark over aborted steel mill sale
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  BALTIMORE (AP) - ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, filed a lawsuit against steelmaker Esmark over the aborted sale of a steel mill near Baltimore.
   
  
• Transportation workers strike in Italy
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  ROME (AP) - Transportation workers have walked off their jobs across Italy in a dispute over contracts.
   
  
• China producer price index up 8.1 pct
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  SHANGHAI, China (AP) - China's producer price index, a key indicator of inflation, rose 8.1 percent in April over the same month a year earlier, the government reported Friday, as a top economic official sought new controls to cool rising prices.
   
  
• South Korea may demand revision of US beef import pact
  AP ( 008, 2008)
  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea said Thursday it may demand a revision of a beef import agreement with the United States as the government struggled to quell widespread perceptions that American beef is unsafe.
   
  
• Toyota projects first full-year profit drop in 7 years
  AP ( 008, 2008)
  TOKYO (AP) - Toyota said the strong yen and weaker U.S. sales took a bite out of January-March earnings and projected worse was to come - a 27 percent plunge in its full-year profit.
   
  
• Total 1Q profit jumps 18 percent on record energy prices
  AP ( 007, 2008)
  PARIS (AP) - French oil company Total SA said Wednesday its first-quarter net profit jumped 18 percent amid record-high energy prices.
   
  
• South Korea may suspend imports of beef from US
  AP ( 007, 2008)
  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's president on Wednesday said his government would immediately halt imports of U.S. beef if it endangered public health.
   
  
• France Telecom posts revenue growth, eyes acquisitions
  AP ( 007, 2008)
  PARIS (AP) - France Telecom SA on Wednesday reported growth in first-quarter revenue and profit margins and said it is ready to seek acquisitions to enhance its presence in both emerging markets and Western Europe.
   
  
• Indonesia considers quitting OPEC
  AP ( 006, 2008)
  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday that Indonesia was considering quitting the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries because it was no longer a net oil exporter.
   
  
• Thailand drops plan for rice cartel that would have fixed prices
  AP ( 006, 2008)
  BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand is dropping plans to create a Southeast Asian rice cartel that would have fixed the price of the skyrocketing commodity over food security concerns, the country's foreign minister said Tuesday.
   
  
• Indian politicians blast Bush over comments on food prices
  AP ( 005, 2008)
  NEW DELHI (AP) - Indian politicians have lambasted President Bush for saying the South Asian country's increasing prosperity is partly to blame for the rising price of food around the world.
   
  
• Canadian auto workers ratify 3-year Ford contract
  AP ( 005, 2008)
  TORONTO (AP) - The Canadian Auto Workers have voted to ratify a three-year contract with Ford Motor Co.
   
  
• European Union clears Korean bid for shipbuilder Aker
  AP ( 005, 2008)
  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - European Union regulators on Monday cleared South Korea's STX Corp. to buy a 39 percent stake in Europe's largest shipbuilder, Aker Yards ASA.
   
  
• South Korean government says US beef safe
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's agriculture minister went on national television Friday to assure citizens of the safety of U.S. beef after the government agreed last month to resume imports following a lengthy ban over fears of mad cow disease.
   
  
• Computers go on sale to general public in Cuba for 1st time
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  HAVANA (AP) - Cubans are getting wired. Computers went on sale to the general public on the communist island on Friday and potential consumers were lining up outside store windows to gawk and consider buying.
   
  
• Fed joins with European banks to battle credit crisis
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Reserve announced Friday that it will expand a series of efforts to deal with the global credit crisis, in coordination with European central banks.
   
  
• Thailand floats idea of rice cartel
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Asian countries sought Friday to tame the spiraling rice market, with Thailand proposing an OPEC-style cartel for exporters and the Philippines shoring up supplies while aiming to end its status as the world's largest importer.
   
  
• Japan's Nikkei index hits 4-month high
  AP ( 002, 2008)
  TOKYO (AP) - Japanese shares rose Friday as sentiment turned upbeat following strong gains on Wall Street and better-than-expected U.S. consumption data.
   
  
• Euro lower against the dollar in the wake of Fed decision
  AP ( 001, 2008)
  BERLIN (AP) - The euro fell against the U.S. dollar Thursday in thin European trading after the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank cut its benchmark interest to 2 percent, its lowest point in nearly four years.
   
  
• Starbucks looks to international stores to fuel earnings
  AP ( 001, 2008)
  SEATTLE (AP) - Starbucks Corp. is dialing back expectations for its U.S. stores in light of economic uncertainty but has a three-year plan for snazzy new drinks and future profit growth fueled by aggressive international expansion.
   
  
• EU bails out German bank for $7.8 billion
  AP ( 30, 2008)
  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union has approved a $7.8 billion bailout for Germany's regional WestLB bank, which was rattled by it's exposure bad U.S. debt.
   
  
• Fuel, foreign exchange lead Korea Air to $324M 1Q loss
  AP ( 30, 2008)
  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Korean Air Lines Co. said Wednesday it recorded a first-quarter net loss on higher fuel costs and unfavorable foreign exchange rates.
   
  
• FDA Warns Chinese Drug Company Over Sloppy Heparin Production
  Andrews(April 29, 2008 )
  The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to a Chinese drugmaker over quality-control problems found during recent inspections at a factory that makes the blood thinner heparin for use in the United States.
   
  
• Deutsche Bank reports 1Q loss on $4.2 billion in write-downs
  AP ( 29, 2008)
  BERLIN (AP) - Deutsche Bank AG said Tuesday that it wrote down $4.2 billion during the first quarter, pushing Germany's biggest bank to its first quarterly loss since 2003 amid trading losses, lower revenue and global market jitters.
   
  
• MasterCard profit more than doubles as card use abroad rises
  AP ( 29, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - MasterCard's profit more than doubled in the first quarter as more customers outside the United States used their credit and debit cards for purchases.