NEW YORK (AFP) ― Google is in preliminary talks to acquire the online video site Hulu, the Los Angeles Times reported on its website Friday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the discussions.Hulu’s owners have met with Google and other prospective buyers including Yahoo! and Microsoft, the newspaper reported.The site, which broadcasts television shows through on-demand streaming, is owned by

World Business July 3, 2011

Honda Korea plans to voluntarily recall 32 units of its Shadow 750 motorcycles due to manufacturing defects that could cause engines to stall unexpectedly, the country’s Transportation Ministry said Thursday.The decision resulted from a malfunction in bank angle sensors, which are designed to turn off the engine only when the motorbikes fall onto its side, according to the manufacturer.The recall

Industry July 1, 2011

Starting July 3, JW’s Grill at the JW Marriott Seoul will offer a new brunch on Sunday. Fresh-squeezed juices and organic salad options are available at the Healthy Counter. The Seafood Counter has sea bream, tuna and other sashimi while the Carving Counter is mobile with one trolley serving slices of sea bass and roasted Tomahawk rib eye. The dessert counter offers cakes, tea, tiramisu, fine brea

Travel July 1, 2011

The German National Tourist Office said Dinkelsbuehl, the medieval city in Germany, will hold a festival for kids “Kinderzeche” from July 15 to July 24. The festival originates from a legend that several groups of children in Dinkelsbuehl found the courage to ask a Swedish soldier to give up the village after the Swedish army invaded the village in 1632. Highlights of the festival include a colorf

Travel July 1, 2011

Air Busan said the travel demand flying from Seoul to Fukuoka has almost recovered since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. According to the carrier, the number of travelers who left for Fukuoka and Osaka from Seoul in June was 900 per day on average, almost nearing the normal average of 1,000 in January and February. The number had declined to about 700 in April. Air Busan said the Busan-Tokyo

Travel July 1, 2011

Ayana Resort & Spa Bali in Bali, Indonesia, said it will hold a “Role Models” dinner on Aug. 11 to create jobs for underprivileged youth. Seven illiterate teenagers, who have not received proper education, have been invited to the resort for 10-weeks training in serving, table setting and taking orders. On Aug. 11, they will serve the resort’s dinner, which will be a four-course meal. The dinner i

Travel July 1, 2011

TOKYO (AP) ― A magnitude-5.4 earthquake has rattled central Japan and at least seven people are hurt.The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake hit Thursday in Nagano, some 170 kilometers northwest of Tokyo. The quake was just four kilometers deep. No tsunami warning was issued, the agency said.Nagano fire department official Sadahiko Furusawa said seven people were injured in the quake, but n

World News June 30, 2011

A cereal and vegetable-based diet reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of researchers announced Tuesday. According to a study of 9,850 adults between 2001 and 2005 by Prof. Kim Ji-hye of Daegu University and Prof. Cho In-ho of Ewha Womans University, Koreans generally have four diet patterns: rice with kimchi; meat and alcohol; coffee and sugar; and cereal, vegetables and fish.The team

Technology June 30, 2011

Forty-eight health products previously requiring prescription will be available at supermarkets and 24-hour convenience stores nationwide from August, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday. The products include caffeine drink Bacchus; Madecassol and Antiphramine, both antiseptic ointments; digestion aid Whal Myung Soo and others, mostly cough drops, digestion solutions, pain killers, m

Technology June 30, 2011

Korea’s leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday that its executives will take part in a White House policy meeting aimed at improving the fuel economy of cars sold in the United States.The company said Ron Bloom, senior counselor for manufacturing policy to President Barack Obama, and Gary Guzy, deputy director of the Office of Environmental Quality, will be present at the meeting sched

June 29, 2011

Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd., Korea’s largest industrial plant builder, said Wednesday that it has won a $230 million order to build a petrochemical plant in western India.Under the deal with ONGC Petro-additions Ltd., a unit of India’s state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., Samsung Engineering will complete the plant by July 2013 with an annual production capacity of 340,000 tons of high-d

June 29, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Online search leader Google Inc. is taking yet another stab at social networking, as it tries to go up against Facebook in this wildly popular and lucrative segment of the Internet. This time the project is called Google+ and it aims to make online sharing more like real life.“We think people communicate in very rich ways,” said Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of engineering at

World Business June 29, 2011