Toyota starts with Prius fix in Japan in third massive global recall in 4 months
TOKYO (AP) -- Prius owners in Japan are rushing to dealers Wednesday, a day after Toyota's president announced a global recall. Instead of screwdrivers and wrenches, what the mechanic is using to tackle the fix is a small laptop-like device that rewrites programming for the brakes....

China's January imports, exports up strongly, suggesting trade recovery on track
BEIJING (AP) -- China's export growth accelerated in January and imports rose, adding to signs a recovery in global and Chinese demand is on track....

New figures show Americans continued to spend modestly in January
NEW YORK (AP) -- Americans backed off from holiday spending in January, but retail sales rose for a third month in a row compared with a year earlier, largely because of gas price hikes, according to figures released Wednesday by a key data service....

Asian stock markets rise on hopes European debt crisis will be contained to small economies
BANGKOK (AP) -- Asian stock markets mostly rose Wednesday after Europe and Wall Street gained on hopes a government debt crisis in Europe can be quarantined to smaller economies....

Baidu posts jump in quarterly earnings on stronger revenue, beating expectations
BEIJING (AP) -- Baidu Inc., which operates China's most popular Internet search engine, said its quarterly earnings jumped 48 percent, beating expectations on strong revenue growth....

Oil drops to near $73 in Asia after report shows US crude supplies jumped last week
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices fell to near $73 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showing unexpected growth in U.S. crude inventories cast more doubt on the recovery in the world's biggest economy....

In latest defect woe, Honda adds 437,000 cars to existing global recall over faulty air bags
TOKYO (AP) -- Honda Motor Co. is adding 437,000 vehicles to its 15-month old global recall for faulty airbags in the latest quality problem to hit a Japanese automaker....

Obama, state regulator criticize Anthem Blue Cross plans to hike rates in California
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In his push to move stalled health care reform, President Barack Obama is appealing to American pocketbooks by calling one health insurer's major rate hike in California a harbinger of rising premiums....

Consumer spending tepid as Disney posts 1st quarter profit that beats Wall Street forecasts
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Consumers sent tepid signals to The Walt Disney Co. during the holiday quarter, as many of them still required discounts to step into theme parks and reduced spending on food, beverages and merchandise when they got there....

Stocks leap on hopes EU will help Greece with debt; Dow jumps 150, moves back above 10,000
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Dow Jones industrial average jumped back above 10,000 on hope that a resolution was near for Greece's debt crisis....