Most Popular
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Actor Jung Woo-sung admits to being father of model Moon Ga-bi’s child
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Wealthy parents ditch Korean passports to get kids into international school
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Trump picks ex-N. Korea policy official as his principal deputy national security adviser
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First snow to fall in Seoul on Wednesday
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Man convicted after binge eating to avoid military service
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S. Korea not to attend Sado mine memorial: foreign ministry
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Toxins at 622 times legal limit found in kids' clothes from Chinese platforms
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Korea to hold own memorial for forced labor victims, boycotting Japan’s
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Final push to forge UN treaty on plastic pollution set to begin in Busan
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Nvidia CEO signals Samsung’s imminent shipment of AI chips
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‘Greeks must pay taxes’
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Monday that there is room for easier fiscal policies in Europe’s strained economies, but she pressed home again that Greeks must pay their taxes to strengthen their economy.The International Monetary Fund managing director, who has repeatedly called tax evasion one of Greece’s biggest problems, raised the issue again in an interview with CNN television one week before the country holds national elections.“I think that tax compliance is a necess
June 12, 2012
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Fitch says Europe debt crisis may pressure emerging Asia ratings
Europe’s sovereign debt crisis may pressure ratings of Asian countries such as Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia by disrupting global funding markets, according to Fitch Ratings.Sri Lanka is most at risk due to its high external-funding needs and weak balance sheet, said Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-Pacific sovereign ratings at Fitch. The same issues also make India and Indonesia vulnerable compared to similarly graded peers, he said.The European crisis is likely “the single biggest” external iss
June 12, 2012
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Euro drops as Spain's bailout fuels debt-crisis spread concern
The euro fell against most of its major peers as Spain's bailout spurred concern that the sovereign-debt crisis is deepening as it spreads among indebted nations before Greek elections June 17.The 17-nation currency earlier rose, touching a two-week high, after Spain asked for as much as 100 billion euros ($126 billion) to save its banking system, making it the fourth member of the currency bloc t
June 12, 2012
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Apple unveils thinner, more powerful MacBooks
The new Apple Inc. MacBook Pro laptop computerApple on Monday unveiled a new lineup of Macintosh laptops, including a revamped MacBook Air, the lightest of the computers, and a thinner, more powerful MacBook Pro.The move keeps Apple, which has been dominating the market for tablet computers like the iPad, in the game against a new line of slimmer laptops using Microsoft Windows or the Google Chr
June 12, 2012
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Europe airline loss forecast doubled on crisis
IATA expects global industry profits of $3 billion in 2012 The International Air Transport Association almost doubled its 2012 loss forecast for European airlines and said the continent’s debt crisis could wipe out an expected global profit. Carriers in Europe may lose $1.1 billion this year, compared with a March forecast for a $600 million loss, the airline body said Monday at its annual meeting in Beijing. It reiterated a forecast for a $3 billion global profit. The worldwide estimate could b
June 11, 2012
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Italy next? Concern in Rome after Spain rescue
ROME (AFP) ― Even as the global economic community hailed an agreement to rescue Spain’s stricken banks, there was concern in Rome on Sunday that investors could now begin treating Italy as the next weak link in the eurozone.Those fears have been fueled by a report from Moody’s ratings agency warning that Spain’s banking troubles could be “a major source of contagion” for Italy where lenders are also highly reliant on European Central Bank funding.“Italy is now the only country in difficulty tha
June 11, 2012
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Spain relieved, angry over bank rescue
Economic misery will get worse despite bailout request: P.M.MADRID (AP) ― Spain’s grinding economic misery will get worse this year, despite the country’s request for a European financial lifeline of up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to save its banks, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Sunday. A day after the country conceded it needed outside help following months of denying it would seek assistance, Rajoy said more Spaniards will lose their jobs in a country where one out of every four ar
June 11, 2012
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China’s auto market revved up in May
BEIJING (AP) ― China’s auto market revved to life in May despite the weakening economy, with vehicle sales jumping nearly 16 percent from a year earlier to 1.61 million units, industry figures showed Saturday.Sales for May in the world’s largest market for new vehicles were sharply higher than earlier in the year. Total auto sales in the first five months of the year inched up 1.7 percent to 8.02 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported.Passenger car sales contin
June 10, 2012
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Cost of lunch with Buffett: $3.5m
OMAHA (AP) ― The cost to dine with investor Warren Buffett has apparently spiked in value, with one deep-pocketed bidder forking over nearly $3.5 million during a charity auction. The annual auction for a private lunch with the Nebraska billionaire closed following a flurry of activity in the final hours Friday night. In the end, the highest bid was a record-breaking $3,456,789. The auction benefits the Glide Foundation, which helps the homeless in San Francisco. Buffett has raised more than $11
June 10, 2012
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China’s slowing inflation adds stimulus pressure
May exports, imports growth tops estimates as U.S., EU reboundChina’s consumer prices rose the least in two years in May and industrial output and retail sales trailed estimates, adding pressure for more stimulus after the first interest-rate cut in three years. Inflation slowed to 3 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday, compared with the 3.2 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Production increased 9.6 percent, lower than a projected 9.8 pe
June 10, 2012
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‘Greece must stick to promises to stay in euro’
BERLIN (AFP) ― Greece must stick to the austerity commitments it has made if it wants to remain part of the eurozone after elections on June 17, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday.Speaking after talks with New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, Merkel said: “What we have always said is that we want Greece to remain a member of the eurozone.”“The precondition for that to succeed is that the future Greek government sticks to the memorandum that was agreed with the International Monetar
June 10, 2012
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Spain seeks EU’s fourth bailout with $125 billion request
Spain became the fourth and largest country to ask Europe to rescue its failing banks, a bailout of up to (euro) 100 billion ($125 billion) that leaders hoped would stabilize a financial crisis that threatens to break apart the 17-country eurozone.The rescue offer follows growing pressure from international investors and the Obama administration and comes a week before elections in Greece, whose v
June 10, 2012
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Bernanke signals no imminent steps to aid economy
WASHINGTON (AP) ― Slumping job growth has alarmed some economists who fear the U.S. economy is in trouble.Ben Bernanke doesn’t appear to be one of them.The Federal Reserve chief sketched a hopeful outlook in testimony to a congressional panel Thursday and sent no signals that the Fed will take further steps soon to aid the economy.Bernanke acknowledged that Europe’s debt crisis poses risks to the U.S. financial markets. He also noted that U.S. unemployment remains high at 8.2 percent. And he sai
June 8, 2012
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China reduces rates for first time since 2008
China cut borrowing costs for the first time since 2008 and loosened controls on banks’ lending and deposit rates, stepping up efforts to combat a deepening slowdown as Europe’s debt crisis threatens global growth. The one-year lending rate declines by a quarter percentage point to 6.31 percent, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement Thursday. The one-year deposit rate drops the same amount, to 3.25 percent. The extra leeway banks will get to determine rates at variance from the officia
June 8, 2012
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Japan revises upward Jan-March growth data
Japan on Friday said its economy grew by 1.2 percent in the January to March quarter from the previous three months, revising upward a preliminary figure of 1.0% growth.The latest data underscore a recovery driven largely by government spending and recovering domestic demand after Japan was battered by last year's quake-tsunami disaster.On an annualized basis, the economy grew a revised 4.7 percen
June 8, 2012
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Spain's hurting banks at heart of eurozone chaos
Spain is under rising pressure to find a lifeline for its deeply troubled banks.Politicians in Europe and investors around the world are worried that the recession-hit country can't come up with the money needed to save its banks without bankrupting the government. Expectations are rising that Spain's leaders will have to seek an international bailout for banks crumbling under the weight of bad re
June 8, 2012
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China rate cut, Fed stimulus hopes boost markets
Global markets rose on Thursday, boosted by China's decision to cut interest rates, hopes that the Federal Reserve will consider new support for the U.S. economy and speculation Europe is preparing to give Spain financial aid.China cut its benchmark lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 6.31 percent for the first time since 2008 to support growth in its cooling economy, the world's second-
June 8, 2012
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Fitch slashes Spain credit rating by three notches
Fitch Ratings slashed Spain's sovereign credit rating by three notches Thursday, citing ballooning estimates of the cost of a banking crisis, mushrooming debt and a deepening recession.The long-term rating was chopped to BBB from A and left with a negative outlook, said Fitch, swooping as expectations mounted that the Europe Union would have to throw a lifeline to Spanish banks."The likely cost of
June 8, 2012
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France to lower retirement age
PARIS (AP) ― France’s new Socialist government moved Wednesday to lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 years old for certain workers, bucking the trend in developed countries in a gesture to unions that critics say is a costly mistake.Governments from North America to Europe have been pushing retirement ages higher and higher in recent decades, as people are living longer and spending more years on state-sponsored pension checks.Raising France’s general retirement age from 60 to 62 years old w
June 7, 2012
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China investment in Europe triples
BEIJING (AP) ― China’s annual corporate investment in Europe tripled last year to $10 billion and appears to be driven mostly by commercial motives, not government directives, a study released Thursday said.Chinese companies are beginning a surge in outbound global investment that could total $2 trillion by 2020, said the report by Rhodium Group, a New York City-based research firm.The report comes as the United States and other governments maneuver to attract investment from China but also face
June 7, 2012
