The Korea Herald

Bernanke sees need for more curbs on shadow bank regulation

World BusinessApr 10, 2012

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke called on regulators to stem risks from “shadow banking” operating beyond traditional oversight and favored steps to promote the “resiliency” of money market funds. “An important lesson learned from the financial crisis is that the growth of what has been termed ‘shadow banking’ creates additional potential channels for the propagation of shocks through the financial system and the economy,” Bernanke said Monday in a speech in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Ber
Father defends girl's stunt with wolves

PodcastApr 10, 2012

Zhu Yongsheng and his daughter Zhu Lin cuddle a wolf at the family`s animal training base in Urumqi, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Saturday. (ANN/China Daily)Xinjiang animal trainer says his daughter was in no danger in cage It is a sight that would terrify almost any parent: Their child locked inside a cage with large predators. Not for Zhu Yongsheng. In fact, it would be no surprise t
Facebook buys Instagram photo app for $1 bn

World BusinessApr 10, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Facebook on Monday announced a billion-dollar-deal to buy the startup behind wildly popular smartphone photo sharing application Instagram.The big ticket purchase was seen by some as a move by Facebook to strengthen defenses against Google and blazingly hot newcomer Pinterest in the weeks ahead of what promises to be a history-making stock market debut."For years, we've focus
Syria fires over borders with Lebanon, Turkey

World NewsApr 10, 2012

Syrian forces opened fire across two tense borders Monday, killing a TV journalist in Lebanon and at least two people in a refugee camp in Turkey on the eve of a deadline for a cease-fire plan that seems all but certain to fail.Across Syria, activists reported particularly heavy violence with more than 125 people killed in the past two days.The Obama administration expressed outrage at the violenc
Indian teacher killed for not allowing student to cheat

World NewsApr 10, 2012

A teacher in northern India who would not allow a student to cheat in an examination was crushed under a car, allegedly for his refusal, media reports said Monday.Rakesh Kumar, a Hindi teacher at a private school in Haryanastate’s Sonepat city, was walking home Friday when two men reportedly asked him to allow a student to cheat.When Kumar refused, the men ran their car over him twice, broadcaster
Gunfire from Syria hits camp in Turkey, wounding 5

World NewsApr 9, 2012

KILIS, Turkey (AP) _ Syrian forces fired across the border Monday into a refugee camp in Turkey, wounding at least five people as a U.N.-brokered plan to end more than a year of violence this week all but collapsed, authorities said.Syrian activists said two people were killed, but the reports could not be immediately confirmed.The Syrian soldiers were believed to be firing at rebels who tried to
More asset sales loom for Japan’s Mazda Motor

World BusinessApr 9, 2012

Should Mazda Motor Corp. dump the Hiroshima Carp? Two weeks after selling $1.8 billion in new stock to replenish its depleted capital, Japan’s only unprofitable automaker said last month it will sponsor the All-Star baseball game in July. Mazda is the only Japanese carmaker to own control of a team in the league and also has a professional soccer club, a hospital and more than $5 billion in land. The diversity of Mazda’s assets illustrates why scrutiny may intensify on President Takashi Yamanouc
Apple’s Tim Cook highest-paid CEO as pay gains: NYT

World BusinessApr 9, 2012

Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook was the highest-paid chief executive officer in the U.S. last year as compensation gained 2 percent overall from 2010, the New York Times reported. Cook received about $378 million, which includes salary, perks and bonuses ($1.8 million) and a one-time stock award ($376.2 million), that extends over 10 years. One-half of the award vests in 2016 and the other in 2021, the newspaper said. Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. was second with $77.6 million, followed by J.C. Penney Co.
Chinese inflation rate rises to 3.6%

World BusinessApr 9, 2012

China’s inflation accelerated more than forecast in March amid rising wages and a fuel-price increase, signaling that policy makers may exercise caution in adding stimulus to boost growth. Consumer prices rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier after gaining 3.2 percent in February, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website Monday. That was more than the median 3.4 percent estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 33 economists. Monday’s data show Premier Wen Jiabao’s officials may need to
Spain ‘headed toward’ 2013 financial crunch

World BusinessApr 9, 2012

MADRID (AFP) ― Spain, sucked back into the center of the eurozone debt crisis, is headed towards a financial crunch in 2013 that may force it to seek international help, analysts warn.Alarm has spread on the financial markets over Spain’s rising public debt, bulging deficit, fragile banks and a slide into recession at a time of soaring unemployment.Investors pounced in the past week, forcing the government to pay higher borrowing costs at a bond auction and snapping up securities that pay out in
Japan tells off ex-P.M. Hatoyama over Iran visit

World NewsApr 9, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) -- The Japanese government on Monday gave a former prime minister a ticking off over a “personal” visit to Iran, where he met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and apparently criticized the IAEA.Yukio Hatoyama, whose short stint in the top job ended in June 2010 after just nine months, was publicly admonished by his own party for comments he reportedly made during the trip claiming the U.N.‘s nuclear watchdog was being unfair to Iran.“The (Japanese) government is taking a consistent posi
Abbas to send Netanyahu letter on peace talks: source

World NewsApr 9, 2012

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) ― Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will send a letter to Israel’s premier on the state of stalled peace talks on April 17, a Palestinian official told AFP on Sunday.The letter is expected to lay out Palestinian conditions for returning to direct negotiations that have been on hold since late September 2010.The Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the letter would be handed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by a deleg
Syria peace plan in jeopardy over regime demands

World NewsApr 9, 2012

DAMASCUS (AFP) ― A peace plan for Syria was in jeopardy Monday after a rebel commander rejected fresh conditions from the government for a pullout of regime troops from protest hubs amid a new spike in violence.Under a peace deal brokered by Kofi Annan, the former U.N. chief, the Syrian army was scheduled to withdraw from protest cities on Tuesday, with a complete end to fighting set for 48 hours later.But the Damascus regime has since said it would only carry out its side of the bargain if rebe
Cracks emerge in Santorum’s evangelical support

World NewsApr 9, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Rick Santorum, who rose in the polls thanks to enthusiastic support from Christian conservatives, faced pressure Sunday from a key Republican evangelical to end his increasingly long-shot White House bid.Richard Land, a top official with the powerful Southern Baptist Convention, urged Santorum to abandon the race and throw his support to frontrunner Mitt Romney to increase Republicans’ chances of defeating Barack Obama in November.“Rick’s a good friend. I like Rick a lot,” Lan
Gingrich: Romney likely Republican nominee

World NewsApr 9, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, lagging far behind his rivals and his campaign mired in debt, acknowledged Sunday that Mitt Romney was his party’s “most likely” nominee.But the former House speaker insisted he was staying in the race despite being far outpaced by frontrunner Romney and fellow contender Rick Santorum, after polls once had him as the leading Republican to take on President Barack Obama in November’s presidential elections.“I think you have to be