The Korea Herald

IMF to slash Irish growth forecasts

World BusinessSept 8, 2011

The International Monetary Fund will cut its Irish economic growth estimate for this year and next as the outlook for its main trading partners, the euro region, U.S. and U.K. “worsened substantially.” The Washington-based fund will lower its 2011 gross domestic product forecast for the country to 0
ECB expected to confirm rates on hold

World BusinessSept 8, 2011

FRANKFURT (AP) ― Many economists think the European Central Bank will signal Thursday that it now sees less risk of unexpected inflation ― and will make it clear that interest rates will not be heading higher for some time.No rate change is expected when the bank’s 23 member governing council meets
Italy Senate OKs austerity plan

World BusinessSept 8, 2011

ROME (AP) ― Italy’s Senate approved Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s disputed austerity package Wednesday, ending weeks of uncertainty that roiled financial markets unsure that the government was serious about cutting its deficit and avoiding becoming Europe’s next debt crisis victim.The upper chamber vo
Lawmaker named fashion ambassador

TheaterSept 8, 2011

Rep. Cho Yoon-sun (left) of the Grand National Party shakes hands with Won Dae-yun, chairman of Korea Fashion Association, after being appointed goodwill ambassador of the 2011 Korean Fashion Culture Centennial Awards on Tuesday at Imperial Palace Hotel in southern Seoul. (Korea Fashion Association)
Former anchorwoman new spokesperson on N.K. affairs

PeopleSept 8, 2011

Park Soo-jin, a former anchorwoman of an English-language broadcasting channel, has been named the new spokesperson for the South Korean ministry on North Korean affairs. Park, 37, will be serving as the Unification Ministry vice spokesperson for two years, taking over from Lee Jong-joo, the ministr
[Editorial] From growth to welfare

EditorialSept 8, 2011

Under pressure from the ruling Grand National Party, the government has finally agreed to pull back on the planned tax cuts for large corporations and high-income individuals. Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan, emerging from a meeting with top GNP officials on Wednesday, said the government would not pu
[Editorial] Specter of currency war

EditorialSept 8, 2011

The specter of a global currency war is looming large following Switzerland’s surprise decision to peg the Swiss franc to the euro in a bid to hold back a runaway appreciation of its safe-haven currency. The Swiss National Bank shocked global markets Tuesday by declaring that it would cap the franc’
For economy, real slam dunk is debt forgiveness

ViewpointsSept 8, 2011

U.S. homeowners don’t need another reduction in their mortgage payments. What they need is a break on their debts. As President Barack Obama prepares to present his job-creation plans to Congress this week, his advisers are studying what some economists have called a “slam-dunk stimulus.” The idea:
[Michael Mandelbaum] Recapturing spirit of Sept. 12

ViewpointsSept 8, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The terrorist attacks on the United States 10 years ago provoked a powerful reaction: the dispatch of American troops, first to Afghanistan and then to Iraq, and the creation of a sprawling new federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security, to coordinate and supervise measur
[Woo Jung-yeop] Public understanding of Nuclear Security Summit

ViewpointsSept 8, 2011

The Nuclear Security Summit, scheduled for March 2012, will bring approximately 50 heads of state to Seoul. It will be the single largest gathering of world leaders in South Korea in the nation’s history. While the G20 aided Korea’s recognition as a developed country, the NSS will propel the country
[Margaret Carlson] Like dog days of summer, Palin is fading away

ViewpointsSept 8, 2011

Sarah Palin is learning that attention is a depreciating asset. Her latest melodrama revolved around whether she would show up at a Tea Party event in Iowa on Saturday. In the end, she did. Yet that only begged a question: Does anyone, including Republican primary voters, still care? In 2009, Palin
[Linda P. Campbell] Texas mother’s hard-luck lessons through Allentown

ViewpointsSept 8, 2011

Driving couldn’t possibly be worse than heading toward Allentown on an unfamiliar, dark highway, with walls of rain splashing away decent visibility and tractor-trailers barreling by with no regard for the treacherous road conditions.It was Thursday last week, and you’d have thought Hurricane Irene
[Shlomo Ben Ami] WMD-free zone in Middle East

ViewpointsSept 8, 2011

MADRID ― Twenty-five years ago, at a summit in Rejkjavik, Iceland, U.S. President Ronald Reagan stunned the world and his Soviet counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev, by proposing global and comprehensive elimination of all nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the skepticism of the United States’ defense estab
10 years on, security needs work: report

World NewsSept 8, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Nearly 10 years after the September 2001 terror attacks, the U.S. government has significantly improved homeland security but still lacks a system to know who is leaving the country and exactly what is inside luggage checked at airports, according to a congressional audit.The repor
No closure for familes of 9/11 victims

World NewsSept 8, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― His family has his spare firefighter uniform, but not the one he wore on 9/11 ― or any other trace of him.Killed at the World Trade Center, 32-year-old Scott Kopytko’s remains were never recovered ― a painful legacy of grief for families looking for answers, closure or final confirma