The Korea Herald

U.S. needs revenue with spending cuts

Feb 4, 2013

U.S. can reduce deficit by closing tax loopholes, making ‘smart’ reductions in spending: Obama
Washington Post eyes HQ sale

Feb 3, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The Washington Post said Friday it was considering the sale of its headquarters in the city’s downtown district in a move which could provide needed cash for the struggling media firm.Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said in an email to staff which was cited in an article in the daily that “our preliminary analysis suggests that a move will make good operational and economic sense.”She said the newspaper is considering a move to “a more modern, bright, open and efficient buil
Starbucks opens first store in Vietnam

Feb 3, 2013

Firm seeks to compete with local rivals in a country known for its strong cafe culture
WP joins list of hacked U.S. media

Feb 3, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The Washington Post disclosed Saturday that it had suffered a cyberattack and suspects Chinese hackers were behind it, joining Twitter and major U.S. media outlets that have endured intrusions.The Post said in a front page story that the attack was detected in 2011. It said Post company officials would not comment on the circumstances, duration of the intrusion or apparent origin of the online attack.The paper quoted Post spokeswoman Kris Coratti as saying the paper worked wit
IMF censures Argentina over poor data

Feb 3, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The International Monetary Fund censured Argentina on Friday for failing to supply accurate economic data, the first time ever that the Fund has taken such an action against a member.But the board appeared to set aside taking any stronger action for the rest of this year, giving Buenos Aires more time to repair its relations with the global crisis lender.The IMF Executive Board found that Argentina’s efforts to meet its demands for better GDP and inflation data have “not been
Banks will repay $4.8b of 3-year loans: ECB

Feb 3, 2013

The European Central Bank said banks will repay 3.5 billion euros ($4.8 billion) of its emergency three-year loans next week. A total of 27 financial institutions will use the second opportunity for early repayment of the initial three-year loan, the Frankfurt-based ECB said in a statement Friday. Banks already returned 137.2 billion euros of long-term funds this week. The ECB’s first loan totaled 489 billion euros and banks can make early repayments on a weekly basis. While the ECB doesn’t prov
Dow ends over 14,000 for 1st time in 5 years

Feb 3, 2013

Jobs report pushes stocks higher, with Dow closing above 14,000 mileston
Sharp, Panasonic post massive losses

Feb 1, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Panasonic and Sharp racked up more than $11 billion in combined losses over the nine months to December as the embattled Japanese electronics giants warned Friday there was more bleeding to come.Japan’s battered electronics sector has suffered from myriad problems including a high yen, slowing demand for key export markets, fierce overseas competition and strategic mistakes that left companies’ finances in ruins.Industry giants Sharp, Panasonic and Sony have been hammered by credit
U.S. Senate passes debt ceiling bill

Feb 1, 2013

Congress approves bill to extend federal borrowing authority and avert default; Obama to sign
Japan's jobless rate rises to 4.2% in December

Feb 1, 2013

Japan's jobless rate stood at 4.2 percent in December, edging up from 4.1 percent in the previous month, the government said on Friday.For the entire 2012 period, the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percent on-year to 4.3 percent, marking two straight years of improvement, according to the internal affairs ministry.The December data, slightly higher than market expectations of 4.1 percent, comes after Japan's new government under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled a huge stimulus plan aimed at boosti
China at highest risk of downturn on overinvestment, S&P says

Feb 1, 2013

China has the highest risk of a downturn among 32 of the world’s largest economies stemming from its outsized proportion of investment spending, according to Standard & Poor’s. Australia, India and Vietnam show an “intermediate risk” of a slowdown based on comparisons of investment, size of gross domestic product and growth, Terry Chan, a Melbourne-based analyst for the credit-ratings company, wrote in a report released today. China has the highest investment-to-GDP ratio in the world, the repor
Wall Street Journal says hit by Chinese hackers too

Feb 1, 2013

The Wall Street Journal said Thursday its computers were hit by Chinese hackers, the latest U.S. media organization citing an effort to spy on its journalists covering China.The Journal made the announcement a day after The New York Times said hackers, possibly connected to China's military, had infiltrated its computers in response to its expose of the vast wealth amassed by a top leader's family.The Journal said in a news article that the attacks were “for the apparent purpose of monitoring th
Mobile use of Facebook surges, but stock falls

Jan 31, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Facebook is increasing its revenue from mobile with more users now accessing the social network via smartphones and tablets than from personal computers, but Wall Street remains unimpressed.The company on Wednesday reported a $64 million profit in the fourth quarter of last year, a steep drop compared with $302 million 12 months earlier, while revenue grew 40 percent to $1.585 billion.But expenses jumped 82 percent to $1.06 billion and will keep rising given Facebook’s plan
Chevron fined nearly $1m for refinery fire

Jan 31, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Chevron was fined nearly $1 million by the state on Wednesday in connection with a fire last year at the company’s San Francisco Bay area refinery that sent a cloud of gas and black smoke over residential areas. Investigators found “willful violations” in Chevron Corp.’s response before, during and after the Aug. 6 fire in Richmond caused by an old, leaky pipe in one of the facility’s crude units, said Ellen Widess, chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and
Eurozone banks still toughening lending: ECB

Jan 31, 2013

FRANKFURT (AFP) ― Eurozone banks are continuing to tighten their lending rules even as their own access to funding is improving, the European Central Bank said on Wednesday.But demand for credit in the 17 countries that share the euro could soon be stabilizing, adding to evidence of a calming in the financial markets, ECB data showed.In its latest quarterly Bank Lending Survey, which quizzed a sample of 131 banks in the euro area, the ECB said slightly more banks said they would tighten the crit