PARIS (AP) -- The stunning arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in connection with a sexual assault in New York is throwing the French presidential race into disarray.Some rivals and political observers said it could bury any presidential bid by Strauss-Kahn, considered the strongest potential challenger to unseat the unpopular President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's election.Others urged c

South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. started work Sunday on a $219 million project to expand a gas-fired power station near Baghdad, an Iraqi Electricity Ministry spokesman said.The Al-Quds station located in a suburb northeast of the capital will increase production to 1,400 megawatts from 900 megawatts after 18 months, said Qais al-Waeli, spokesman for the ministry's gas projects

Kim should have ordered U.S. fund to sell shares, watchdog official saysKim Seok-dong, the nation’s chief financial regulator, has once again come under public scrutiny for his allegedly irresponsible policy on U.S. Lone Star Funds, the biggest shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank.Following the vague stance he assumed on corruption scandals of regulatory staffers, for which he has yet to offer a det

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, said Friday it has agreed to join Denmark’s efforts to promote clean energy cars in a move to tap the fast growing market for green vehicles in Europe.A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to that end was signed Wednesday in Denmark between the South Korean automaker and the city of Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, Hyundai Motor officials said.C

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of computer memory chips and the second-biggest semiconductor company, reduced its gap with industry leader Intel Corp. in 2010, according to an industry report Sunday, fueled by its memory business.Samsung accounted for 9.2 percent of the global chip revenue in 2010, up from a 7.6 percent share in 2009, according to the latest report from IHS iSu

Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s No.2 memory-chip maker, won a patent infringement appeal against Rambus Inc., a U.S.-based technology licensing firm, the South Korean company said Saturday. If the ruling stands, Hynix will not have to pay the hefty compensation it was slapped with in 2009.“We welcome this ruling as it has helped us establish the basis for pursuing future negotiations with Rambus,

The Korean branch of U.S.-based global social commerce powerhouse Groupon is facing growing criticism after it posted wrong information about displayed items and even sold products that it had not secured. Groupon Korea on May 2 canceled a “secret megadeal” two hours before the event launch, during which the company was expected to hand out 500,000 giftcons ― mobile gift coupons ― which would give

High-ranking officials of the Financial Supervisory Service will likely be subject to a tougher code of conduct and may face dismissal if they fail to meet annual internal assessments, officials said Sunday. Currently, 12 FSS executives, three deputy governors and nine assistant deputy governors, are allowed to maintain their three-year term as long as they do not engage in criminality.“In the wak

Shinsegae Co., South Korea’s second-largest retailer by sales, said Friday that it has finalized a deal to acquire Kim’s Club Mart Co., the supermarket chain operator of leading local fashion retailer E-Land Group.Kim’s Club Mart will be purchased by Shinsegae’s discount unit E-Mart Co., Shinsegae said. The purchase price is reported to be less than 200 billion won (US$184.5 million). 　On May 2, S

South Korea logged a trade surplus in April for the 15th straight month, fueled by exports of petroleum products, ships and vehicles, the nation’s customs office said Sunday.The trade surplus reached $5.14 billion last month, according to data released by the Korea Customs Service. The figure marks the 15th consecutive month of surplus since February 2010.Exports stood at $49.15 billion in April,

Samsung Electronics, despite its current legal squabble with Apple Inc., will out roll out so-called “Retina Displays” to secure demand from the California-based company and win a bigger share in the rapidly-growing tablet PC market. Samsung is expected to start mass-producing the displays by the end of this year, industry sources said. The new displays, based on the PenTile RGBW technology, will

Volkswagen AG’s Audi luxury-car brand will increase its workforce by 17 percent through 2020 as the manufacturer expands production beyond Germany to meet growing demand in markets such as China and the U.S.“We’re expecting further growth over the long term beyond 2015,” Chief Executive Officer Rupert Stadler said a speech to be delivered today at the annual shareholders meeting in Neckarsulm, Ger