The Korea Herald

French P.M. says give Greece more time to pull through

Sept 24, 2012

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in an interview aired Sunday that he was in favor of giving Greece more time to pull through the eurozone crisis as long as it was sincere in taking on reforms.He said in the interview with the French Mediapart website that “the solution cannot be Greece’s exit from the eurozone,” adding that “We can already give it more time to pull through.”Asked whether he was in favor of granting the debt-ridden country more time, he said, “Yes. On one condition,
EADS-BAE tie-up hampered by France

Sept 24, 2012

BERLIN (AFP) ― European aerospace groups EADS and Britain’s BAE Systems are facing obstacles in their proposed tie-up from the French government, the German economic daily Handelsblatt reported in its edition to appear Monday.The newspaper, citing a source in the French president’s cabinet, said the obstacles included the fact that France “does not want in any case to give up part” of its stake in the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company.The governments of Germany and France each have a
Merkel, Hollande rift on banking union deepens

Sept 23, 2012

ASBERG, Germany (AFP) ― The leaders of Germany and France clashed over plans to monitor Europe’s crisis-hit banks Saturday, overshadowing anniversary celebrations of a symbolic step in their post-war reconciliation.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande had gathered at the Baroque palace in Ludwigsburg, southwestern Germany, where Charles de Gaulle gave a watershed speech to German youth in 1962.But despite affirmations that European unity was the only way out of
Farmers resist WHO’s tobacco regulation policy

Sept 20, 2012

The Korea Tobacco Growers Organization reacted with outrage to the publication of new proposals to regulate tobacco farming by World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.KTGO said on Thursday that it has requested the government to oppose the WHO’s proposal saying that it will threaten tens of thousands of jobs in the farming sector.The organization announced its opposition against the new proposal in Articles 17 and 18 in the FCTC, saying that reducing the number of tob
China's protests to have limited impact on Japanese firms: Moody's

Sept 20, 2012

A recent wave of anti-Japanese protests in China will likely have a limited short-term impact on Japanese firms that are likely to recover easily from the losses inflicted so far, Moody's Investors Service said Thursday.Protesting Japan's claim over disputed islands between the two countries, tens of thousands of angry Chinese vandalized a number of Japanese factories and stores in China over the
AMR expects about 4,400 job cuts

Sept 19, 2012

DALLAS (AP) ― American Airlines is sending layoff warning notices to more than 11,000 employees although a spokesman says the company expects job losses to be closer to 4,400.The notices went out to mechanics and ground workers whose jobs will be affected as American goes through a bankruptcy restructuring.American Airlines spokesman Bruce Hicks said Tuesday that fewer than 40 percent of those getting notices will lose their jobs. Hicks said federal law requires the company to notify anyone whos
Ford Motor leads European car sales drop as German demand falls

Sept 19, 2012

Ford Motor Co. led the steepest decline in European car sales in six months as the region’s economic woes hurt demand in Germany. Industrywide car registrations fell 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 722,483 vehicles in August, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said Tuesay in a statement. Ford’s European sales dropped 29 percent, and the company accounted for 6 percent of the region’s deliveries compared with 7.7 percent in August 2011. The European car
Bank of Japan announces additional monetary easing

Sept 19, 2012

The Bank of Japan on Wednesday announced additional monetary easing saying it was boosting an asset-purchasing fund by 10 trillion yen ($128 billion) to 80 trillion yen.The BoJ also kept interest rates at between zero and 0.1 percent in a unanimous decision, a statement said.Following the announcement of the fresh measure, the dollar edged up against the yen, trading at 78.95 yen, from about 78.78
More than 180 arrested at Occupy protest

Sept 18, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― Occupy Wall Street protesters celebrated the movement’s anniversary on Monday by clogging intersections in the city’s financial district, marching to the beat of drums that were a familiar refrain last year.Protesters roamed around the lower Manhattan financial district all morning in groups of a few dozen each, from one intersection to another and back again, chanting loudly about the ills of Wall Street. In total, there were a few hundred protesters scattered throughout the cit
China files trade case against Washington

Sept 18, 2012

China challenges U.S. anti-dumping measures in WTO, adding to growing trade disputesBEIJING (AP) ― China filed a World Trade Organization case Monday challenging U.S. anti-dumping measures on billions of dollars of kitchen appliances, paper and other goods, adding to worsening trade strains as global demand weakens. Beijing’s move came shortly before the Obama administration filed its own WTO case accusing China of improperly subsidizing exports of automobiles and auto parts. China and the U.S.
U.S., China trade battle heats up at WTO

Sept 18, 2012

U.S.-China trade tensions heated up Monday as the U.S. lodged a complaint over Beijing's automotive subsidies with the WTO and China countered with a filing over U.S. duties on Chinese products.Washington accused China of providing at least $1 billion in illegal subsidies to Chinese auto and auto parts exporters over 2009-2011, helping them beat U.S. manufacturers in the huge U.S. market.The U.S.
Japanese firms halt China operations after protests

Sept 18, 2012

Anti-Japan protesters stand on a Japanese flag in Shanghai, China, Sunday. (AP-Yonhap News)Major Japanese firms including Canon and Honda suspended operations at several plants in China, officials and reports said Monday, on the eve of an expected fresh wave of anti-Japan demonstrations.Beijing and Tokyo, the world's second and third-largest economies, are at loggerheads over disputed islands, pro
Obama to launch China WTO action

Sept 17, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― President Barack Obama will launch a new WTO enforcement action against Chinese auto subsidies Monday, countering his Republican foe Mitt Romney’s accusations that he is too timid towards Beijing.Obama will leverage the political power of his office when he makes the announcement in swing state Ohio and argue that Chinese practices in the auto sector put U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage, a White House official said.“The Obama administration is launching an enforcement acti
Portugal’s foreign minister calls for austerity rethink

Sept 17, 2012

Portugal’s foreign minister on Sunday advocated a rethink of swingeing austerity measures, a day after mass rallies were staged nationwide against the cuts and the country’s economic woes.Paulo Portas’s comments follow Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho announcement of tough new moves including an increase in worker social security contributions, combined with a cut in employer contributions, in a bid to create jobs in a country where unemployment has topped 15 percent.Portas, a key figure in Po
Creditors doubt Greece can meet goals

Sept 17, 2012

BERLIN (AFP) ― Greece’s international creditors no longer believe Athens can achieve its financial objectives, especially a reduction in its debt burden, the German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported.“Until now, creditors worked on the principle that Greece would achieve a sustainable level of indebtedness by 2020. This goal is no longer achievable,” the newspaper said, citing sources close to the so-called troika of creditors ― the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the E