The Korea Herald

Pressure mounting for Lion Air audit

World NewsFeb 6, 2012

Several incidents involving drugs and pilots with privately owned Lion Air have raised concerns about aviation safety in the country and prompted calls for the Indonesian government to immediately audit the management of the airline.A helicopter pilot looks at his flight plan on an Apple Inc. ipad o
Angry protests mount in Egypt

World NewsFeb 6, 2012

Thousands of angry Egyptians gathered Friday outside the Interior Ministry in Cairo in continuing protests stemming from a deadly stampede at a soccer match. An Egyptian protester displays spent tear gas canisters and shotgun rounds during clashes with security forces near the Interior Ministr
Abbas touted as P.M. in interim unity government

World NewsFeb 6, 2012

GAZA CITY (AP) ― Hamas on Sunday endorsed a proposal by Qatar that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas assume the role of prime minister in an interim Palestinian unity government that would prepare for general elections in the West Bank and Gaza, according to two officials close to the contacts.Such an arrangement, proposed by Qatar’s emir, would help Abbas and his main political rival, the Islamic militant Hamas, clear a major hurdle in slow-moving attempts to reconcile.Abbas said in meetings
China may see deeper slowdown on crisis: IMF

World BusinessFeb 6, 2012

China’s economic expansion would be cut almost in half if Europe’s debt crisis worsens, a scenario that would warrant “significant” fiscal stimulus from the nation’s government, the International Monetary Fund said. Based on the IMF’s “downside” forecast for the global economy, China’s growth could drop by as much as 4 percentage points from the fund’s current projection, which is for 8.2 percent this year, the organization said in a report released Monday by its China office in Beijing. The out
Mitsubishi to end European production

World BusinessFeb 6, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors is to stop manufacturing automobiles in Europe by around 2013 as it shifts its focus to emerging markets, reports said Monday.Under the plan, which would be the first withdrawal from Europe by a major Japanese carmaker, the company will sell its NedCar subsidiary plant in Born, in the Netherlands, the Japanese business daily Nikkei and Jiji Press reported, without identifying their sources.NedCar was established in 1991 and has been producing the Colt subc
Summers says U.S. economy on ‘right road’ with employment

World BusinessFeb 6, 2012

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the latest jobs report shows the economy is “on the right road” while Glenn Hubbard, an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said he’s skeptical about the meaning of the January numbers. “Unlike many of the favorable past reports, if you look beneath the surface of this one almost every indicator within it is favorable,” Summers said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” where he appeared with Hubbard, dean of the Columbia Business
EU Central Bank ‘to hold rates steady’

World BusinessFeb 6, 2012

The European Central Bank, after two rate cuts and a series of unprecedented liquidity measures, will hold its fire this month, as it assesses the impact of those previous measures, analysts say.The recent raft of economic data, notably in Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany, has been surprisingly positive, so the bank at its meeting on Thursday looks set to wait and see how its past moves to prevent a credit crunch and boost the economy in the 17 countries are actually panning out.In December,
Conservative wins Finland presidential vote

World NewsFeb 6, 2012

HELSINKI (AP) ― A former finance minister has won Finland’s presidential election and will become the country’s first conservative head of state in five decades.Sauli Niinisto took 63 percent of the votes Sunday, compared to 37 percent for his rival, Greens candidate Pekka Haavisto, official results showed with 100 percent of ballots counted.The 63-year-old Niinisto will be the first president from the conservative National Coalition Party since 1956, and the first in 30 years from a party other
Greece forces overtime in critical debt talks

World BusinessFeb 6, 2012

ATHENS (AFP) ― Greece on Sunday insisted on extending critical talks on a debt rescue into Monday, as the government’s coalition backers denounced pressure from public creditors to pass harsher austerity measures.After a five-hour meeting with his socialist, conservative and far-right allies, Prime Minister Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said the talks would continue on Monday, and that agreement had been reached on many issues.But George Karatzaferis, leader of far-right party LAOS and Antonis
Myanmar poll a ‘key test’ of reform: U.N. envoy

World NewsFeb 6, 2012

YANGON (AFP) -- A top United Nations envoy on Sunday hailed dramatic changes in Myanmar but said by-elections would be a “key test” of the army-backed regime‘s commitment to reform.U.N. special reporter on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, welcomed a “continuing wave of reforms” since his last visit in August, but said “serious challenges remain”.“The upcoming by-elections on 1 April will be a key test of how far the government has progressed in its process of reform,” he told report
China’s low Lunar New Year sales ripple across Asia

World BusinessFeb 6, 2012

Chinese shoppers on their Lunar New Year holiday were less lavish than expected at Hong Kong jewelers, curbed spending on beauty brands and slowed spending at South Korean stores. They may keep that pace in the coming year of the dragon. Holiday sales on the mainland grew 16 percent to 470 billion yuan ($75 billion), the slowest pace since the 2009 financial crisis and three percentage points below last year’s increase. China is finding it is not immune to global economic forces and the slowdown
Wen says Europe ...stability is in China’s interests

World BusinessFeb 6, 2012

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s Premier Wen Jiabao said a stable Europe was key to stability at home, in comments published Sunday, at the end of a week that saw Germany’s chancellor visit Beijing.“Firstly, our biggest export market is Europe,” Wen said in the southern city of Guangzhou on Saturday, adding that Europe was also a main source of technology for China.“Helping stability in the European market is actually helping ourselves ... We have to keep import and export policies stable.” Wen was echoi
Noriega hospitalized with possible stroke

World NewsFeb 6, 2012

PANAMA CITY (AP) ― Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who was toppled by a 1989 American invasion and later convicted of drug running, was transferred from prison to a hospital on Sunday, possibly because of a stroke, police said.The 77-year-old Noriega has high blood pressure and apparently suffered a brain hemorrhage, Panamanian National Police said in statement. He was taken from the El Renacer prison where he was serving out his sentence to Hospital Santo Tomas in Panama City.One of
Israel OKs Asia-Europe rail bridge

World BusinessFeb 6, 2012

JERUSALEM (AFP) ― Israel’s government on Sunday gave the green light to building the first rail link between its Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, offering a new Asia-Europe trade route to compete with the Suez Canal.“This is a strategic decision,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers at the cabinet’s weekly meeting. “In the coming decade, new (economic) powers will arise,” a statement from his office quoted him as saying. “It is within our power to create an alternative transport ro
Egypt puts 43 NGO workers on trial over funds

World NewsFeb 6, 2012

CAIRO (AP) ― Ignoring a stern U.S. threat, Egypt on Sunday referred 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, to trial before a criminal court for allegedly using illegal foreign funds to foment unrest.The decision marked a sharp escalation of the dispute between Cairo and Washington over Egypt’s crackdown on U.S.-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights. The two countries have been close allies for more than three decades, but the campaign against the organizations has angered Washingto