The Korea Herald

Clinton arrives in South Africa for meeting with Mandela

Aug 6, 2012

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) ― U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to meet with South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela on Monday, the State Department said, hours after her arrival on the latest leg of her Africa tour.The luncheon with the 94-year-old former president will take place in Qunu, a village in the country’s southeast.Clinton, who met schoolgirls and Africa’s second woman president during an unprecedented visit to Malawi Sunday before jetting to South Africa, will be in Johann
P&G profit jumps 45% on sale of snacks business

Aug 5, 2012

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Procter and Gamble, the U.S. consumer-products giant, on Friday posted a sharp rise in earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, boosted by the sale of its snacks business.P&G said net profit rose 45 percent from the year-ago quarter to $3.6 billion.The sale of its Pringles potato-chip business to The Kellogg Company for $2.7 billion in an all-cash transaction added a net gain of 48 cents per share, P&G said.Excluding one-time items, earnings per share were 82 cents in the April-J
Smartphone maker HTC posts 58% profit drop

Aug 5, 2012

TAIPEI (AP) ― Taiwan smartphone maker HTC Corp. reported Friday a 58 percent drop in second quarter profit year-on-year, its third consecutive quarterly decline as intensifying competition from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. hurt sales. HTC said profit amounted to 7.4 billion New Taiwan dollars ($248 million) from revenue of NT$91 billion in the three months through June. It reported a 70 percent drop in the first quarter and a 26 percent drop in the final quarter last year. Looking ahea
Heineken to buy Tiger beer maker for $4.1b

Aug 5, 2012

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― Dutch brewer Heineken said Friday it has reached a deal to buy the Asian brewing group that makes Tiger beer for $4.1 billion, as it seeks to bolster its presence in the fast-growing region.Heineken said Singapore-listed Fraser & Neave has accepted its offer to acquire its stake in Asia Pacific Breweries, adding that the F&N board has agreed to recommend the S$5.1 billion deal to shareholders.Heineken had earlier said a takeover of APB ― which makes Tiger beer and other brands
UniCredit profits drop 67 percent

Aug 5, 2012

MILAN (AP) ― Italian bank UniCredit SpA on Friday said second-quarter profits dropped 67 percent as it reinforced its capital buffers by nearly 2 billion euros.The net profit of 169 million euros ($207 million) compared with 511 million euros in the same period of 2011 and was below analyst forecasts for 269 million euros, according to a survey by Factset. The earnings were net of 477 million euros spent to buy back bonds in the first quarter.UniCredit shares nevertheless rose 7.5 percent to 2.7
Economic growth hurt by lack of rain in India

Aug 5, 2012

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― India’s economic growth could slip to near six percent this year with the country facing the spectre of its third drought in a decade, a top government policymaker says.In the last few months, the outlook for once-booming India has worsened with high inflation, steep interest rates, a ballooning deficit, nosediving business confidence, a falling currency and now growing worry of drought.“If we factor in that agriculture which will not be strong ... (growth) will be closer to si
ECB acts to head off Greek bankruptcy: report

Aug 4, 2012

The European Central Bank has moved to stave off Greece bankrupcty for the time being by guaranteeing additional emergency loans from the country's central bank, a German newspaper reported Saturday.The ECB's governing council decided at a meeting Thursday on the move which will give Greece access to another four billion euros (almost $5 billion) of funds and ensure its financial survival until Se
U.S. unemployment rate rises to 8.3 percent; jobs up

Aug 3, 2012

U.S. employers added 163,000 jobs in July, a hopeful sign after three months of sluggish hiring.The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent, from 8.2 percent in June.Stronger job creation could help President Barack Obama's re-election hopes. Still, the unemployment rate has been above 8 percent since his first month in office _ the longest stretch on record. No
Iran loses $133 million a day on oil embargo

Aug 3, 2012

U.S.-led sanctions against Iran are costing OPEC’s third-largest producer $133 million a day in lost sales without raising global crude prices, handing President Barack Obama an election-year foreign-policy victory. Shipments from Iran have plunged by 1.2 million barrels a day, or 52 percent, since the sanctions banning the purchase, transport, financing and insuring of Iranian crude began July 1, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Annualized, that would cost President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’
Sharp to slash 5,000 jobs, first since 1950

Aug 2, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s Sharp will slash 5,000 jobs by March, reports said Thursday, its first cuts since 1950 as it is hit by a prolonged slump in its key television and liquid crystal display sectors.The firm, which employs 57,000 people globally, has seen operations suffer amid worries over high energy prices, a high yen, slow domestic demand and global economic uncertainty.It had originally considered cutting about 3,000 domestic jobs, but decided to expand the scope to include worldwide opera
Toyota recalls 780,000 cars

Aug 2, 2012

CHICAGO (AFP) ― Toyota said Wednesday it will recall nearly 780,000 vehicles in the United States to fix a defect that could allow rust to form in the suspension to the point where parts break off.“Toyota has determined that if the nuts on the rear suspension arm are not tightened following the proper procedure and torque specification during a rear wheel alignment service, excessive play may occur at the threaded portion of the arm, followed by rust formation,” Toyota said in a statement.“If th
Spanish regions rebel against deficit targets

Aug 2, 2012

MADRID (AP) ― The president of Spanish region Andalusia led protests Wednesday against central government attempts to control the spending of the country’s 17 semiautonomous authorities in an outcry that threatens to undermine the ailing country’s efforts to convince investors it can put its finances back in order.Andalusia President Jose Antonio Grinan said his region wouldn’t be able to enact the cuts being demanded by Mariano Rajoy’s government next year without shutting down key public servi
IMF says Japan recovering, but faces risks

Aug 2, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Japan is recovering from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster but the euro crisis, its huge public debt and a Chinese slump dampens hope over 2.5 percent growth this year, the IMF said Wednesday.In a report on annual consultations with Tokyo, the International Monetary Fund urged the government to do more to shrink its massive debt of over 125 percent of GDP under a package of structural reforms.Japan is grappling with a debt standing at more than double gross domestic pro
Fed announces no new stimulus, for now

Aug 2, 2012

Federal Reserve says U.S. economy has decelerated in H1, takes no new stepsWASHINGTON (AP) ― The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the U.S. economy is losing strength and repeated a pledge to try to boost growth if hiring remains weak. The Fed took no new action after a two-day policy meeting. But it appeared to signal in a statement released after the meeting a growing inclination to take further steps to lift the economy out of its funk. The Fed noted that growth had slowed over the first ha
S&P affirms Spain credit rating, cautious on outlook

Aug 1, 2012

MADRID (AFP) -- Standard and Poor's on Wednesday affirmed Spain's credit rating at BBB+ with the outlook still negative on fears that measures to help the eurozone struggler will fall short."In our view, Spain's commitment to the ongoing implementation of a comprehensive fiscal and structural reform agenda remains strong," S&P said, referring to a raft of new austerity measures passed by the conse