Most Popular
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Dongduk Women’s University halts coeducation talks
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Defense ministry denies special treatment for BTS’ V amid phone use allegations
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OpenAI in talks with Samsung to power AI features, report says
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Russia sent 'anti-air' missiles to Pyongyang, Yoon's aide says
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Two jailed for forcing disabled teens into prostitution
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Trump picks ex-N. Korea policy official as his principal deputy national security adviser
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S. Korea not to attend Sado mine memorial: foreign ministry
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South Korean military plans to launch new division for future warfare
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Gold bars and cash bundles; authorities confiscate millions from tax dodgers
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North Korean leader ‘convinced’ dialogue won’t change US hostility
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Cyprus bailout swells to $30b
BRUSSELS (AP) ― The cost of bailing out Cyprus has swollen to 23 billion euros ($30 billion), with the crisis-hit country having to take on the lion’s share of the measures needed to avoid bankruptcy, according to a draft document by the country’s international creditors. The draft document, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, says the country will have to find 13 billion euros ($17 billion) ― an increase on the 7 billion euro contribution agreed during the country’s chaotic bailout ta
April 12, 2013
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Facebook's Zuckerberg launches political group
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley leaders have launched a political group aimed at changing immigration policy, boosting education and encouraging investment in scientific research.Zuckerberg announced the formation of Fwd.us (pronounced “forward us”) in an op-ed article in The Washington Post late Wednesday. In it, he said the U.S. needs a new approach to these issues if it is to get ahead economically. This includes offering a path to citizenship for the 11 million or so im
April 12, 2013
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Japanese makers recall 3.39 million cars
TOKYO (AFP) ― Up to 3.39 million vehicles made by major Japanese manufacturers will be recalled worldwide because of possible problems with airbags, the companies said Thursday.Four carmakers ― Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda ― separately said they would recall a combined 3.39 million vehicles globally in accordance with local regulations, all citing the same malfunction of passenger-side airbags.Japan’s transport ministry, which received recall reports from the manufacturers, said the number of
April 11, 2013
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WTO cuts 2013 global trade forecast
GENEVA (AFP) ― Global commerce is set to grow by 3.3 percent this year, the World Trade Organisation said on Wednesday, as persistent gloom in Europe led it to cut a previous forecast of 4.5 percent.The announcement marked the second time that the WTO has reined in its figures for 2013, after initially estimating that world trade would expand by 5.6 percent.“The final trade figures for 2012 are quite sobering,” WTO director-general Pascal Lamy told reporters before adding that 2013 would see “mo
April 11, 2013
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Obama’s budget avoids big U.S. military cuts
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The Pentagon laid out a budget plan Wednesday that holds military spending steady next year without taking into account the cost of the war in Afghanistan or rolling automatic budget cuts.President Barack Obama’s request of $526.6 billion for the Defense Department keeps the base budget at about the same level as in 2013, avoiding dramatic cuts to weapons or benefits.But the proposal leaves out the cost of the war in Afghanistan, projected to surpass $80 billion in the current
April 11, 2013
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EU warns of imbalances in Spain and Slovenia
BRUSSELS (AP) ― The European Commission turned up the heat on Spain and Slovenia Wednesday, warning that the two struggling countries are facing “excessive” problems fixing their economies. Meanwhile, France’s government came under pressure to get its debt under control. In its health-check of European Union countries with debt and deficit problems, the Commission singled out Spain and Slovenia as countries where swift action was needed. Both countries have been hit by recession, high unemployme
April 11, 2013
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Obama sends Congress $3.8 trillion budget plan
President Barack Obama sent Congress a $3.8 trillion budget plan that hopes to tame galloping deficits by raising taxes on the wealthy and trimming the country's most popular benefit programs. In aiming for a compromise between Republicans who refuse to raise taxes and Democrats who want to protect those benefits, he's upset some on both sides.The White House wants to break away from the current cycle of moving from one fiscal crisis to another while the government skirts the brink of a shutdown
April 11, 2013
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Chrysler recalls more than 247,000 cars and SUVs
DETROIT (AP) ― Chrysler Group LLC is recalling more than 247,000 SUVs and cars for several problems, including faulty gas tank hoses, broken drive shafts and air bag warning lights that illuminate when there’s no problem. The largest of the recalls, posted Tuesday on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, covers about 139,000 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger sedans from the 2011 and 2012 model years. The automaker says that faulty wiring can cause the ai
April 10, 2013
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Exxon Mobil ordered to pay $236m
CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) ― Exxon Mobil Corp. was found liable Tuesday in a long-running lawsuit over groundwater contamination caused by the gasoline additive MTBE, and the jury ordered the oil giant to pay $236 million to New Hampshire to clean it up. The jurors reached their verdicts in less than 90 minutes, after sitting through nearly three months of testimony. Lawyers on both sides were stunned by the speed with which they reached the verdict on liability and even more stunned when the j
April 10, 2013
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IMF to central banks: Watch inflation
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday warned central banks to keep an eye on inflation and resist political pressure to focus policy only on lowering unemployment.With many governments desperate to find ways to generate jobs, the IMF said, it is ever more important for central banks to assert their independence to keep an eye on all potential problems in the economy ― whether growth, prices, or jobs. “In the wake of the Great Recession, there is political urgency to reduc
April 10, 2013
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France’s lower house passes labor bill
PARIS (AFP) ― France’s lower house on Tuesday adopted controversial labor law reforms that supporters say are crucial to boosting jobs and competitiveness, but opponents have blasted as unfair for workers.The measures ― designed to give more flexibility to employers, who have long complained of red tape strangling the French economy, while offering more protection to employees ― was adopted by an overwhelming majority.Three of France’s union confederations and the employers federation signed off
April 10, 2013
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Fitch cuts China yuan debt rating on local government
Fitch Ratings Ltd. cut China’s long-term local-currency debt rating, citing rising risks to the country’s financial stability given the lack of transparency in the increased borrowing of local governments. Fitch lowered its assessment by one step to “A+,” the fifth- highest grade, the London-based company said in an emailed statement Tuesday. It estimates total credit in China’s economy, including various forms of so-called shadow banking, may have reached 198 percent of gross domestic product a
April 10, 2013
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Senate confirms White to head SEC
WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. Senate has confirmed Mary Jo White’s nomination as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, making her the first former prosecutor to lead the federal agency that oversees Wall Street. White was approved Monday by a Senate voice vote. She will replace Elisse Walter, who has been interim SEC chairman since Mary Schapiro resigned in December. President Barack Obama nominated White, who had served as U.S. attorney in Manhattan from 1993 through 2002. Critics ha
April 9, 2013
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China’s inflation eases in March
China’s inflation eased more than forecast from a 10-month high as food-price gains ebbed, reducing pressure on policy makers to tighten credit as the world’s second-largest economy recovers from a slowdown. The consumer price index rose 2.1 percent in March from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday in Beijing. That compares with the 2.5 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg news survey of 38 economists and a 3.2 percent gain in February when spending for the Lunar New
April 9, 2013
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‘Stress tests’ show stronger banks
WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Federal Reserve’s annual “stress tests” of major U.S. banks have become better able to detect risks, Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday night. He said the tests show that the banking industry has grown much healthier since the financial crisis. Speaking in Atlanta, Bernanke noted that this year’s tests showed that 18 of the biggest banks had collectively doubled the cushions they hold against losses since the first tests were run in 2009. He says the tests are providing vita
April 9, 2013
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‘Developing Asia rebound faces risk’
HONG KONG (AP) ― Economic growth in developing Asia is picking up, underpinned by China’s rebound and strength in countries such as Indonesia, the Asian Development Bank said in a report Tuesday, while warning that political disputes pose an increased threat to growth. The Manila-based lender’s 2013 Asian Development Outlook said some big dangers to regional growth have faded, such as the possibility of the euro common currency breaking up or a “U.S. fiscal shock” stemming from brinkmanship over
April 9, 2013
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U.S. urges EU to ease off austerity
BRUSSELS (AP) ― European countries should ease off their austerity and adopt more growth-friendly policies, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Monday as he kicked off a series of meetings with the region’s top leaders. America’s biggest trading partner and the world’s largest economic bloc has entered the fourth year of a debt crisis, which has plunged many of the 27 EU nations into recession. The U.S. administration hopes Europe will relent in its focus on debt reduction, which has been hur
April 9, 2013
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J.C. Penney ousts CEO Johnson
NEW YORK (AP) ― J.C. Penney’s board of directors has ousted CEO Ron Johnson after only 16 months on the job as a risky turnaround strategy backfired and led to massive losses and steep sales drops. The department store chain said late Monday in a statement that it has rehired Johnson’s predecessor, Mike Ullman, 66, who was CEO of the department store chain for seven years until November 2011. The announcement comes as a growing chorus of critics including a former Penney CEO, Allen Questrom, cal
April 9, 2013
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Soros sees China shadow-banking risks similar to subprime
Billionaire investor George Soros said China has a “couple of years” to control risks from nontraditional financing whose expansion has parallels with the cause of the global financial crisis. “The rapid growth of shadow banking has some disturbing similarities with the subprime-mortgage market in the U.S. that caused the financial crisis of 2007-2008,” Soros said today in a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia in China. “I’m sure the authorities are aware of the dangers. They have both the skills
April 9, 2013
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Lexus dethroned by BMW seeking under-50s buyers
Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus, dethroned by BMW and Mercedes as the U.S. luxury sales leader, aims to remake itself with models more like performance cars and less like family cars, leading to a new IS sport sedan intended to lure entry-level drivers who would otherwise buy German. The 2014 IS arrives midyear with features derived from an intense racetrack analysis with its German rivals. The redesigned car has a lower seating position, a stiffer frame and a “spindle” grille that’s the new face of
April 8, 2013
