MEXICO

Volkswagen, the world's fourth-largest carmaker, is considering building a new North American factory if the dollar stays weak, Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said in an interview with German magazine Focus.

Pacific rim trade ministers pushed for a revival of stalled world trade talks on Friday, but committed themselves to work towards setting up their own trade bloc if a global deal fails.

Mexican stocks rose in light trading on Wednesday, driven by gains in leading retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico and cell phone operator America Movil.

Base metals were boosted on Wednesday as equity markets headed higher, with copper rising 1.6 percent, but analysts said the sentiment remained vulnerable.

Mexican markets fell sharply on Tuesday, following a steep drop in U.S. Treasury prices as investors worried about the possibility of higher global interest rates.

Candy maker Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) said Thursday it will cut one third of its production lines and eliminate 1,500 jobs over the next three years, or about 12 percent of its workforce, after its most recent quarterly results came in below expectations.

Nigeria continues to rank as the riskiest country to do business with over the Internet a new survey released Wednesday shows, with New York identified as the riskiest city in North America.

Internet technology firm Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) said that it is expanding its online catalog of searchable books today, adding more than a million books from the University of Texas at Austin to its ever expanding collection.

The Mexican Tourism Board is in the midst of its ‘beaches on wheels' campaign in an effort to lure Canadians and Americans away from the cold to the tropical resorts awaiting them in Mexico.

Internet search giant Yahoo Inc. is creating an electronic time-capsule - comprising electronic data submitted from internet users - which the company will use to commemorate the year of 2006.

Pepsi Bottling Group Inc., the largest bottler of Pepsi drinks, on Tuesday said quarterly net profit rose about 1 percent, helped by strong sales in Europe, and raised the bottom end of its full-year earnings forecast. Pepsi Bottling said net income increased to $207 million, or 86 cents per share, for the third quarter ended September 9, from $205 million, or 82 cents per share, a year ago.

The Japanese Olympic Commission (JOC) will appoint Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara as the director-general of Tokyo Olympic Bidding Committee for the 2016 Summer Games, the commission said on Friday.

CEMEX said on Thursday it will begin construction on a new $460 million kiln at its Tepeaca Cement Plant in Puebla, Mexico.

The FTSE 100 fell on Friday, with Wall Street seen extending losses after a Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey sparked concerns over U.S. growth and corporate profitability

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to Boeing for border security work, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee said on Wednesday.

As the International Monetary Fund embarks on a second round of reforms to give developing countries more say in the institution, the World Bank signalled on Wednesday that it was ready to go the same route.

Defense giant Boeing Co. has won a $2.1 billion contract to help the Department of Homeland Security beef up security along more than 7,500 miles of U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada, The Washington Post reported.

An agreement to boost the voting power of emerging nations in the International Monetary Fund is just the start of a difficult process, the IMF's head said on Wednesday, as the World Bank signaled it was ready to go the same route.

Former US trade representatives have urged the Department of Transportation to accept United Airlines' proposal to connect Washington D.C. and Beijing through direct commercial flights for the first time.

The FTSE 100 rose on Thursday after a stronger Wall Street close, driven by utilities as AWG surged 12 percent on news of a bid approach.

Chile has been ranked as Latin America's most sustainable and ethical nation according to a study of more than 50 economic, social, corruption, legal, political and environmental indicators, which compare eight major Latin American countries.