The Korea Herald

Jim Yong Kim is chosen to lead World Bank

Jim Yong Kim (Xinhua-Yonhap News)WASHINGTON (AP) -- Jim Yong Kim, an American who is president of Dartmouth College, has been chosen to be the next president of the World Bank. His selection Monday extends the U.S. hold on the top job at the 187-nation development agency.Kim, a surprise nominee of President Barack Obama, was selected Monday in a vote by the World Bank's 25-member executive board.

April 17, 2012

Jim Yong Kim is chosen to lead World Bank

Toyota turns to BMW to power European rebound against VW

Toyota Motor Corp., which was overtaken by Volkswagen AG in sales last year, is striking back on the German automaker’s home turf. Toyota is rolling out Europe’s first hybrid subcompact and the image-boosting GT86 sports coupe this year in a bid to claw back market share in the region after sales plunged 41 percent since 2007. The Toyota City, Japan-based company will further bolster its European business by outfitting its vehicles with diesel engines from Bayerische Motoren Werke AG from 2014.

April 16, 2012

Toyota turns to BMW to power European rebound against VW

Japan to lend $60b to IMF

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan is considering lending about $60 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help strengthen a global firewall against contagion from the European sovereign debt crisis, Kyodo news agency said on Sunday.Tokyo is talking with some other key members of the IMF such as China and European nations to finalize their possible contributions to the multilateral lender, ahead of the Group of 20 finance chiefs’ meeting later this week in Washington. If realized, Japan’s contribution

April 16, 2012

Euro area seeks bigger IMF war chest

European officials travel to Washington this week seeking a bigger global war chest to combat the debt crisis as Spain’s government battles to quell renewed market turmoil over its finances. Three weeks after European leaders unveiled emergency euro- area funding exceeding the symbolic $1 trillion mark, concerns about Spain’s position have ratcheted the nation’s borrowing costs to the highest levels this year. Crisis-fighting resources will dominate talks at the International Monetary Fund’s spr

April 16, 2012

Marriott plans to double its hotels in Latin America

Marriott International Inc., the largest publicly traded U.S. hotel chain, plans to double its operations in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2017 to take advantage of growing demand, Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson said. The expansion will focus largely on the Fairfield Inn & Suites brand and will probably double the company’s sales and employees in the region, Sorenson said in an interview at the CEO Summit of the Americas in the resort city of Cartagena, Colombia. Marriott will add 12

April 15, 2012

Marriott plans to double its hotels in Latin America

Best Buy will close 50 stores

RICHFIELD, Minnesota (AP) ― Best Buy on Saturday announced the locations of 50 stores that it is closing this year, including seven in California, six in Illinois and six in the company’s home state of Minnesota.The struggling electronics chain said last month that it would close some of its so-called big box stores, cut 400 corporate jobs and trim $800 million in costs. Best Buy plans to open 100 smaller, more profitable Best Buy Mobile stores.The company is trying to avoid the fate of Circuit

April 15, 2012

Qantas makes first commercial biofuel flight

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Australia’s Qantas Friday launched the nation’s first commercial flight using a mixture of refined cooking oil, saying it would not survive if it relied solely on traditional jet fuel.The Airbus A330 left Sydney for Adelaide using a 50-50 blend derived from recycled cooking oil and regular jet fuel in what the airline hopes will be the first step towards a sustainable aviation fuel industry in Australia.“We need to get ready for a future that is not based on traditional jet fuel o

April 15, 2012

Spain warns Argentina in oil dispute

Spain slams Argentina amid escalating oil dispute, warns country against becoming pariahBUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ― Spanish officials warned Argentina on Friday that the country risks becoming “an international pariah” if it follows through on its threats to wrest control of Spanish-owned energy company Repsol’s majority stake in its South American YPF unit. Escalating tensions, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo summoned Argentine Ambassador Carlo Antonio Bettini to convey

April 15, 2012

Two vie to lead World Bank after Ocampo pullout

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Colombia’s Jose Antonio Ocampo withdrew from the race to lead the World Bank on Friday, endorsing Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s challenge against the favored U.S. candidate.The endorsement likely did little to influence the probable choice of U.S. health expert Jim Yong Kim to be the development bank’s next president, especially after Russia came out to endorse Kim.“It is clear that this is not based on the merits of the candidates but is a political exercise,” said the forme

April 15, 2012

Two vie to lead World Bank after Ocampo pullout

‘Rich countries must bite bullet on debt’

PARIS (AFP) ― The world’s richest countries should take immediate, tough steps to reduce debt, a “major challenge” which must be met so as to stabilize their strained public finances, the OECD said Thursday.The 2008 global financial crisis has sent debt levels soaring as governments have spent heavily, borrowing huge amounts to try and keep their economies afloat, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development said.Now their debt, averaging 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product for the

April 13, 2012

Barnes & Noble unveils Nook that glows in dark

Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookstore chain, introduced a Nook e-reader with a screen that glows in the dark, challenging Amazon.com Inc. at a time when prices for digital books may start falling. Both companies have touted page turn speeds, battery life and weight to attract customers. Now Barnes & Noble has added an adjustable light to the screen on its Nook Simple Touch. That’s easier than connecting a light to Amazon’s Kindle Touch, which can’t light up, and offers benefits such as

April 13, 2012

Barnes & Noble unveils Nook that glows in dark

Sony CEO wields axe, sets turnaround targets

TOKYO (Reuters) – Less than a fortnight into his job as CEO, Kazuo Hirai sketched out a strategy to revive Sony Corp: a major push into smartphones, growth in games and cameras, and big cost cuts in a TV business that has not made a profit in 8 years.The Sony veteran, in his first public briefing as CEO, also targeted new business in medical equipment and electric car batteries, and set a target f

April 12, 2012

Nokia lowers profit outlook, shares nosedive

HELSINKI (AP) ― Nokia Corp. saw its share price plummet 14 percent after it warned that heavy competition will hit its first-quarter earnings, especially in developing markets, and that it expected no improvement in the second quarter.The world’s largest cell phone maker said multiple factors had hurt sales, particularly in the fast-growing markets of India, the Middle East and Africa and China.The Finnish company has increasingly been losing out to competitors in the lucrative top-end smartphon

April 12, 2012

World Bank trims China 2012 growth outlook

BEIJING (AP) -- The World Bank cut its growth forecast for China on Thursday, adding to warnings the world's second-largest economy might slow too abruptly, and said Beijing should be ready to launch a new stimulus if needed.The bank stressed it expects a ``soft landing'' but trimmed its growth outlook this year to a still-robust 8.2 percent from 8.4 percent. It cited U.S. and European economic wo

April 12, 2012

Best Buy CEO resigns amid internal investigation

Dunn quits after firm launches probe into his ‘personal conduct’NEW YORK (AP) ― Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn abruptly resigned on Tuesday after the embattled consumer electronics chain launched an internal investigation into his “personal conduct.” Best Buy released a statement late Tuesday saying that it is conducting the probe after earlier only saying the departure was a “mutual decision.” The chain would not give any specifics on the circumstances surrounding the investigation of Dunn, a 28-year

April 11, 2012

Best Buy CEO resigns amid internal investigation

Apple’s market value hits $600 billion

Company market cap at No. 1, closing in on Microsoft recordNEW YORK (AP) ― Apple, already the world’s most valuable company, hit the $600 billion level for the first time Tuesday. Only one other company has been worth $600 billion ― Apple’s old sparring partner Microsoft Corp. It reached that valuation for 13 trading days around the turn of the millennium, at the peak of the technology stock mania. At its highest level, on Dec. 30, 1999, Microsoft’s valuation was $619 billion. It’s now worth abo

April 11, 2012

IMF to lower forecast on China trade: report

The International Monetary Fund is set to lower its forecasts for China’s medium-term current- account surplus, according to two officials who have seen the draft report. The Washington-based IMF in September estimated surpluses of more than 7 percent of gross domestic product for 2015 and 2016. The new forecasts for the broadest measure of trade will be published April 17 in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, according to the officials, who spoke on condition they wouldn’t be named because the f

April 11, 2012

ADB cuts forecast for emerging Asia growth

Developing Asia set to grow 6.9%, slowing from 7.2% in 2011 on weak global demandHONG KONG (AP) ― Developing Asia’s economic growth will slow to 6.9 percent in 2012 because of weak global demand, the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday, as it warned widening inequality could undermine political stability. Despite cutting its forecast from the September projection of 7.5 percent, the ADB said growth rates remain robust in most countries, where momentum is supported by rising domestic demand. T

April 11, 2012

ADB cuts forecast for emerging Asia growth

Avon hoping to get a makeover with new CEO

NEW YORK (AP) ― Avon is hoping a new CEO can give it a much-needed makeover. The struggling cosmetics seller on Monday tapped long-time Johnson & Johnson executive Sherilyn S. McCoy as its new chief executive. The announcement ended a four-month search to replace embattled CEO Andrea Jung, who had come under fire for failing to stem the company’s declines and wrap up a bribery investigation. Avon Products Inc. said Jung ― the first female CEO of the 126-year-old company ― will remain executive c

April 10, 2012

AOL to sell over 800 patents to Microsoft

NEW YORK (AP) ― Faltering Internet icon AOL was able to squeeze out more than $1 billion from Microsoft for a trove of some 800 patents in an auction, the latest sign of just how valuable such portfolios can be for the world’s biggest technology companies.“There is a fight for market share occurring on multiple fronts ― technology, patents, advertising,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Financial who covers Microsoft. “Microsoft, more so than others out there, has been (using) its patent p

April 10, 2012

AOL to sell over 800 patents to Microsoft