Updated: Wed, May 22, 2013

SYDNEY (AP) — Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it was closing its two Australian auto plants and ending production in the country in 2016, amid soaring manufacturing costs and plummeting sales. The closure of the U.S. automaker's plants in the state of Victoria will mean the loss of 1,200 jobs...

Updated: Wed, May 22, 2013

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After drifting toward shore on a floating drill rig tilted by 30-foot swells and 45-knot winds, then riding a basket up to a hovering Coast Guard helicopter, Todd Case said he would revise the towing plan for the vessel on a winter trip across the Gulf of Alaska. In...

Updated: Wed, May 22, 2013

BEIJING (AP) — A survey shows China's manufacturing contracted this month, adding to signs a fragile economic recovery is slowing. HSBC Corp. said Thursday the preliminary version of its monthly purchasing managers index fell to a seven-month low of 49.6 from April's 50.4 on a 100-point...

Updated: Wed, May 22, 2013

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (AP) — American Samoa plans to take away frequent flier miles from government workers who travel on behalf of the U.S. territory and use the loyalty points to help medical patients and students travel off the islands when necessary. Hawaiian Airlines agreed to the...

Updated: 26 min ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans pushed through a bill Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the legislation as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid environmental review. The bill was...

Updated: 58 min ago

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexicans qualifying for extended unemployment benefits starting next month will have their payments reduced by 25 percent because of federal spending cutbacks, state officials announced Wednesday. The Department of Workforce Solutions estimated the cuts initially...

Updated: 1 hr ago

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says state residents will receive about $4.3 million as part of a nationwide settlement in an e-book price-fixing case. Schuette said Wednesday that the state has reached an agreement with Penguin to settle allegations that it and...

Updated: 1 hr ago

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's president announced a $3.2 billion annual increase in cash handouts for the poor, students and pregnant women Wednesday, saying the programs will reach nearly 700,000 additional children, pay their families 35 percent more and encourage consumer...

Updated: 1 hr ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Voters approved a law limiting the number of medical pot shops in Los Angeles after politicians failed for years to corral the blossoming industry. The winning ballot measure on Tuesday caps the number of nonprofit dispensaries at about 135 from a high of nearly 1,000 a few...

Updated: 1 hr ago

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Twenty-nine bars and restaurants, nearly half of them TGI Fridays, filled premium brand liquor bottles with lower-quality booze and sold it to patrons who thought they were buying the good stuff, authorities said Wednesday. A yearlong investigation by the state Division...