TOKYO (Reuters): Asian shares and commodities slid while the euro fell to its lowest in almost two years against the dollar on Thursday, as surging borrowing costs in troubled Spain raised fears that it could fail to rescue its banks and may need to seek a bailout. Investors fled from risk assets to U.S. government ...

LONDON (Reuters): Warm weather and fears of a fuel shortage helped drive the biggest increase in British retail sales in more than a year in March, raising chances that recovering consumer spending may have helped the economy to avoid recession. The unexpectedly strong figures will come as a relief for policymakers as they try to ...

At a time when some major global apparel buyers are shifting their sourcing to low-cost countries like Cambodia, Bangladesh and Vietnam, Sri Lankan garment manufacturers are not only able to retain their current buyers but have also succeeded in luring new buyers. In fact, the Sri Lankan apparel industry has crossed its US$ 4 billion ...

Reuters: France and Germany agreed on Thursday to stop arguing in public over whether the European Central Bank should do more to rescue the euro zone from a deepening sovereign debt crisis. President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti that they trusted the independent central bank ...

BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s worst floods in decades have jolted a global supply chain already straining under the impact of Japan’s tsunami, as deluged factories threaten some of the kingdom’s key export industries. The floods have killed about 300 people, damaged one-tenth of Thailand’s rice paddy and made major roads north of Bangkok impassable. Toyota, Ford, ...