The Korea Herald

IMF releases aid to Greece

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― After lengthy delays, the International Monetary Fund unblocked part of its aid to Greece Wednesday, offering a brief respite to the recession-mired country grappling with austerity measures.The amount released ― 3.2 billion euros ($4.3 billion) ― might seem a mere footnote to the 172 billion euro international bailout for Greece last March, the second rescue effort after a 2010 aid program foundered.But the installment carries symbolic weight: it closes a chapter on the Greek

Jan. 17, 2013

IMF releases $1.11 billion for Portugal program

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The IMF on Wednesday released 838.8 million euros ($1.11 billion) in bailout funds to Portugal after a review of the country’s program to restructure its finances.The newest release in its three-year, 27.51 billion euro aid program for Portugal came four days after International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said the country is “on the right track” in meeting economic reform targets set by its international creditors in exchange for rescue funding.Total disbursements u

Jan. 17, 2013

Qantas, Emirates Airlines tie-up takes off

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Australia’s competition watchdog on Thursday gave Qantas and Emirates Airlines permission to begin implementing their global alliance but said final approval was still pending.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which gave the carriers preliminary approval in December to combine operations for an initial five years, said that practical sales, marketing and other steps could now start.The ACCC is allowing Qantas and Emirates to start implementing their alliance beca

Jan. 17, 2013

Wal-Mart to hire vets, buy American

NEW YORK (AP) ― Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer and the biggest U.S. private employer with 1.4 million workers, said Tuesday that it is rolling out a three-part plan to help jumpstart America’s sluggish economy.The plan includes hiring more than 100,000 veterans in the next five years, spending $50 billion to buy more American-made merchandise in the next 10 years and helping its part-time workers move into full-time positions sooner.The move comes as Wal-Mart’s attempts to re

Jan. 16, 2013

Euro exchange rate is ‘dangerously high’: Juncker

The euro’s 8.4 percent gain against the U.S. dollar in the past six months is posing a fresh threat to the European economy just as it shows signs of escaping the debt crisis, said Jean-Claude Juncker, who leads the group of euro-area finance ministers. Echoing policy makers from Switzerland to Japan in bemoaning strong exchange rates, Juncker late yesterday called the euro’s value “dangerously high” after the 17-nation currency this week traded above $1.34 against the dollar for the first time

Jan. 16, 2013

Fitch warns it might downgrade U.S. rating over spiraling debt

PARIS (AFP) ― Fitch ratings agency issued a strong warning to the United States on Tuesday to deal with its recurrent debt-ceiling dramas in a way which strengthens the economy in the long term, saying that its top “AAA” credit rating was at stake.Fitch said it might revise downward its notation for the United States from the “AAA” level if Congress did not reach agreement on raising the ceiling for the national debt.Fitch said that failure to raise the limit in time would lead to a formal revis

Jan. 16, 2013

Fitch warns it might downgrade U.S. rating over debt

Fitch ratings agency issued a strong warning to the United States on Tuesday to deal with its recurrent debt-ceiling dramas in a way which strengthens the economy in the long term, saying that its top "AAA" credit rating was at stake.Fitch said it might revise downward its notation for the United States from the "AAA" level if Congress did not reach agreement on raising the ceiling for the national debt.Fitch said that failure to raise the limit in time would lead to a formal revision by Fitch o

Jan. 16, 2013

Facebook unveils social search feature

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new search feature that's designed to entice people to spend more time on its website and will put the social networking company more squarely in competition with Google and other rivals such as Yelp and LinkedIn.Called “graph search,” the new service unveiled Tuesday lets users quickly sift through their social connections for information about people, interests, photos and places. It'll help users who, for instance, want to scroll through all the photos

Jan. 16, 2013

Toyota retakes global auto sales crown from GM

DETROIT (AP) ― Toyota has once again dethroned General Motors as the world’s top-selling automaker. The Japanese company sold 9.7 million cars and trucks worldwide in 2012, although it’s still counting. GM sold 9.29 million. Both companies saw higher sales, but Toyota’s growth was far larger as it rolled out new versions of popular models like the Camry. GM executives promised sales growth this year, especially in the U.S. Both companies say publicly that they don’t care about who wins, but conc

Jan. 15, 2013

Luxury models dazzle Detroit show

DETROIT, Michigan (AFP) ― Stand-out styling, performance and luxury were on display Monday as global automakers sought to stake out ground in the high-profit premium car sector at the Detroit auto show.From a 202 mph Bentley cabriolet to a clutch of new BMWs and Audis, carmakers were confident that lower-volume, higher-margin cars would find buyers in the coming year despite the slow global economy and the recession in Europe.Auto makers are also increasingly taking aim at younger buyers no long

Jan. 15, 2013

EU’s industrial output down for third month

LONDON (AP) ― Industrial output across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro fell in November for the third straight month, official figures showed Monday, raising fears that the recession in the region has continued into the last three months of 2012. The 0.3 percent monthly decline reported by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, was worse than expected and felt across the whole economy. The consensus in the markets was that output would increase a modest 0.1 percent during the mo

Jan. 15, 2013

Apple stock wilts on worries about iPhone demand

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Apple’s stock slipped below $500 for the first time in 11 months on Monday as investors reacted to reports signaling the company’s latest iPhone is falling further behind a slew of sleek alternatives running Google’s Android software. The latest indication that Apple, the world’s most valuable company, is seeing sluggish demand for its iPhone 5 emerged in separate stories published Monday in the Japanese newspaper Nikkei and The Wall Street Journal. Both publications cited u

Jan. 15, 2013

Obama demands action to raise debt limit

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama demanded on Monday that lawmakers raise America’s $16.4 trillion federal debt limit quickly, warning that benefits that the elderly and military veterans rely on will be affected if they don’t and cautioning Republicans not to insist on cuts to government spending in exchange. Obama said he was willing to negotiate with Republican leaders about reining in deficit spending but insisted that those talks be separate from decisions to raise the federal debt c

Jan. 15, 2013

Obama demands action to raise debt limit

Toyota retakes global auto sales crown from GM

Toyota has once again dethroned General Motors as the world's top-selling automaker.The Japanese company sold 9.7 million cars and trucks worldwide in 2012, although it's still counting. GM sold 9.29 million.Both companies saw higher sales, but Toyota's growth was far larger as it rolled out new versions of popular models like the Camry. GM executives promised sales growth this year, especially in the U.S. Both companies say publicly that they don't care about who wins, but concede that the crow

Jan. 15, 2013

Chinese economy set for rebound

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s economy is poised finally to end a long downward trend in 2013, economists polled by AFP say, as the new communist leadership vows to retool the nation’s investment-led development model and promote a “happy life” for all.The world’s second-largest economy is not expected to return to double-digit growth, but the economists’ predictions are a welcome spot of good news in a financial world assailed by the eurozone debt crisis and lacklustre recovery in the United States.Af

Jan. 14, 2013

U.S. to review Boeing 787, but calls plane safe

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The government stepped in to assure the public that Boeing’s new 787 “Dreamliner” is safe to fly, even as it launched a comprehensive review to find out what caused a fire, a fuel leak and other worrisome incidents this week.Despite the incidents, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood declared, “I believe this plane is safe, and I would have absolutely no reservations about boarding one of these planes and taking a flight.” Administrator Michael Huerta of the Federal Aviation Adm

Jan. 13, 2013

U.S. to review Boeing 787, but calls plane safe

U.S. trade gap grows to $48.7b

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. trade deficit expanded in November to its widest point in seven months, driven by a surge in imports that outpaced only modest growth in exports.The Commerce Department report Friday suggests trade will drag on economic growth in the October-December quarter. A wider trade gap slows growth because it means Americans spent more on foreign products while U.S. businesses earned less in overseas sales.Still, the report showed consumers have maintained an appetite for spend

Jan. 13, 2013

Greek parliament approves key tax legislation

ATHENS (AP) ― Greece’s Parliament approved new tax legislation early Saturday aiming to boost state revenues by 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) this year, under the bailout-dependent country’s commitments to its international creditors.The law approved with the support of all partners in the country’s three-party ruling coalition shuffles and simplifies tax scales, reforms family benefits, increases taxation of deposit interest and expands the tax base to include groups such as low-earning farmer

Jan. 13, 2013

Bank of America agrees to settlement of Merrill claims

Bank of America Corp. agreed to pay $62.5 million to resolve investor claims that the bank’s directors mishandled the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co., company officials said. U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in New York Friday approved Bank of America’s offer to add $42.5 million to a $20 million settlement of shareholder lawsuits alleging the bank’s board allowed executives to overpay for Merrill Lynch in 2009. Castel indicated in a Jan. 4 order he had questions about the “fairness, reasonab

Jan. 13, 2013

Bank of America agrees to settlement of Merrill claims

Ford to hire 2,200 workers

DETROIT (AP) ― Ford says it plans to hire 2,200 engineers, computer programmers and other white-collar workers this year as U.S. demand for new vehicles picks up. That’s in addition to the 8,100 salaried and hourly jobs Ford added in the U.S. last year as it increased production and introduced new cars. U.S. car and truck sales rose 13 percent to 14.5 million in 2012, the highest level in five years.Ford will use social media to find tech-savvy candidates. It’s also stepping up recruitment of mi

Jan. 13, 2013