Japanese automaker introduces new models to attract consumersNissan is set to wage a sales battles with German automakers in Korea by aggressively marketing its Infiniti series and the Cube, a characteristic box-like model.The second-largest automaker in Japan has set the goal of making the Infiniti series become one of the top three import brands in the premium luxury segment.“We are mapping out

The Actyon of Ssangyong Motor Co.At Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea’s third-largest maker of sport utility vehicles, just about everything that could go wrong did in the past two decades. The company switched owners four times, faced bankruptcy and suffered one of the most violent strikes in modern Korean history in 2009. Workers in that clash took control of a plant for almost three months, usin

LONDON (AFP) ― Global banking giant HSBC will announce this week plans to axe between 10,000 and 15,000 jobs in the coming year as part of a drastic cost-cutting drive, a report said Saturday.The bank, headquartered in London but with a major focus on Asia, will unveil the job cuts on Monday as it posts its half-year results, Britain’s Sky News television reported, without citing its sources. The

JERUSALEM (AP) ― Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets nationwide on Saturday to protest rising housing prices in the largest turnout in a grass-roots movement that began two weeks ago and is demanding steps from the government to ease the burden.The protests over housing costs have tapped into wider discontent among Israelis over the high cost of living and the growing gaps between ri

Automakers agreed to double the fuel economy of the vehicles they sell in the U.S. to a fleetwide average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, President Barack Obama said. The White House negotiated the proposal, which will take effect in 2017, with automakers including General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. The administration proposed a 56.2 mpg requirement last month, up from a f

Korean actor and singer Kim Hyun-joong will hold a concert tour across Japan, his agency Keyeast announced on Saturday.The rising hallyu star successfully hosted his first solo album showcase in Tokyo on Friday, attracting more than 2,000 fans and reporters at the Tokyo International Forum.  Actor and singer Kim Hyun-joong poses before his album showcase in Tokyo on Friday. (Yonhap News)Speaking a

Kang Shin-woo, chief investment officer of Korea Investment Management, has been designated as the first CEO of the merged entity between Hanwha Investment Trust Manager and Prudential Asset Management.With the appointment of the 50-year-old fund manager, Hanwha Investment is poised to revamp its management structure and has set the goal of becoming the nation’s No. 1 asset management player. Kang

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) ― Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter Zara Phillips married England rugby star Mike Tindall on Saturday ― but Britain’s second royal wedding of the year was largely a low-key affair, with only a hint of the glamor and excitement of Prince William’s showstopping nuptials.Phillips, 30, who is 13th in line to the throne but does not use a royal title, and Tindall, 32, were gre

WASHINGTON ― Of all the leftover business for the Obama administration as U.S. troops prepare to leave Iraq at the end of the year, nothing is more symbolic of the continuing threats there ― and throughout the region ― than the case of a Lebanese Hezbollah operative named Ali Mussa Daqduq. Daqduq has been one of Iran’s top covert operatives in Iraq, according to U.S. officials. He was captured in

If online comments and e-mails from friends are any indication, the overwhelming feeling about the American debt crisis here in Europe is that if Barack Obama is now in a position of having to raise the debt ceiling or face default, the crisis can only be traced back to George W. Bush.Europeans are, in part, blaming Bush’s post-9/11 military funding ― yet somehow the phrase “overstretched Greek ar