BUSINESS
May 8, 2012 | Michael Hiltzik
The European elections have concluded and the results are clear: Voters in France and Greece are a lot smarter than economic policymakers in the United States. Or at least they're a lot more attuned to the folly of relying on austerity as a tool of economic growth. If you've missed the weekend's headlines, French voters elected their first Socialist president since Francois Mitterand left office in 1995. The new president, Francois Hollande, won after promising to loosen the reins of economic austerity and impose more sacrifices on the rich.
BUSINESS
April 20, 2012 | By Alex Pham, Los Angeles Times
The European Union's antitrust regulators have approved Sony Corp.'s $2.2-billion acquisition of EMI's publishing business, clearing a major hurdle in Sony's ambition to create the world's largest music publishing group with rights to about 2 million songs, including some by David Bowie, Stevie Wonder and Pink. The deal announced Thursday still needs to clear U.S. regulators, who have historically been more lenient than their European counterparts. Nevertheless, antitrust experts cautioned against celebrating too soon.
WORLD
March 24, 2012 | By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
Syrian First Lady Asma Assad, a glamorous, British-born ex-banker once thought to be at the vanguard of change in her adopted land, was hit by European sanctions Friday after embarrassing reports about shopping sprees as her husband's forces were accused of killing civilians. The latest round of European Union sanctions against President Bashar Assad's inner circle came as demonstrators across the country marched to the slogan "Damascus, here we come. " The rallying cry signaled the opposition's intention to take its campaign to oust the president to the Syrian capital, largely insulated from the unrest sweeping the nation.
NEWS
February 23, 2012 | By Joel Stonington
Stock markets rallied on Thursday as positive economic data on jobs and housing outweighed concerns about the European economy. The Dow Jones industrial average finished within sight of 13,000 points to close at its highest point since the 2008 financial crisis. The blue-chip index rose 46.24 points, or 0.4%, to 12,984.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.8 points, or 0.43%, to 1,363.46. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 23.81 points, or 0.8%, to 2,956.98.
WORLD
February 10, 2012 | By Anthee Carassava, Los Angeles Times
Greece's precarious financial and political situation was shaken further Friday by a nationwide strike and a wave of Cabinet resignations over demands by the European Union for ever-deeper spending cuts. Four Cabinet members — two Socialists and two far-right conservatives — quit their posts in protest over the demands. Their exit forced Prime Minister Lucas Papademos to consider an urgent reshuffle to stanch the tide of defections before a crucial parliamentary vote on the austerity measures, scheduled for Sunday.
BUSINESS
February 3, 2012 | By Nathaniel Popper
The collapse of Lehman Brothers is feeling like a bad dream today. The Dow Jones industrial average surged Friday morning, taking it past highs reached last year and up to the highest level since May 2008, before Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and the economy went into the toilet. The Dow was recently up 139.64 points, or 1.1%, to 12,845.05. That brings it above the highs reached last April and July, which were killed by concerns about a double-dip recession in the United States and a European financial collapse.