The Korea Herald

Struggling BlackBerry releases new phone

Sept 25, 2014

OTTAWA (AFP) ― BlackBerry on Wednesday unveiled its newest smartphone with a full physical keyboard and a large screen, aiming to return to its roots targeting business users.The BlackBerry Passport, named for its approximate size to the travel document, is designed to win back key corporate users after the struggling Canadian company was effectively knocked out of the highly competitive consumer smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung.The Passport, unveiled at events in London, Dubai a
China’s need for speed driving global car market: study

Sept 25, 2014

PARIS (AFP) ― Young, rich and hungry for speed: a new generation of Chinese drivers is reshaping the global market with their taste for powerful cars, according to a study released on Wednesday.Asia and particularly China, the world’s second-largest economy, have long been a key market for global automobile manufacturers as they seek to make up for weak demand in the U.S. and Europe. But a study of 14 countries by French think-tank Cetelem found that Chinese consumers were also set apart by thei
Fed’s Evans sees dangers from premature hike

Sept 25, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) ― A Federal Reserve policymaker said Wednesday that the central bank should be “exceptionally patient’’ before raising interest rates, even if it means overshooting the Fed’s inflation target for a time because the risks of moving too quickly remain sizable.Charles Evans, the president of the Fed’s Chicago regional bank, said that despite improvements in the job market, the economy still needs help from the prolonged period of low rates. He cited examples of central banks that ha
‘Modi election points to Indian economic revival’

Sept 25, 2014

HONG KONG (AFP) ― India’s economy shows promise of a “turnaround” following Narendra Modi’s election while Asian markets will likely ride out the effects of further stimulus tapering by the United States, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.The Manila-based lender was bullish on India’s future in a supplement to its 2014 economic outlook for the region saying it expected gross domestic product to grow by 6.3 percent next year, compared to an earlier projection of six percent.“After winning
WTO cuts 2014 trade growth forecast to 3.1%

Sept 24, 2014

GENEVA (AFP) ― Global commerce is set to expand by 3.1 percent this year, the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday, cutting its previous forecast of 4.6 percent due to weak growth and demand.The Geneva-based body also downgraded its forecast for trade growth in 2015 to 4.0 percent from 5.3 percent.“International institutions have significantly revised their GDP forecasts after disappointing economic growth in the first half of the year,” said WTO chief Roberto Azevedo in a statement.“In ligh
Air France pilots protest as premier spurns strike

Sept 24, 2014

PARIS (AP) ― Scores of striking Air France pilots took their protest to the streets on Tuesday, demonstrating in full uniform outside of France’s National Assembly to demand government intervention to end an eight-day standoff. Parent company Air France-KLM says about half of all Air France flights have been canceled since the strike started. The pilots oppose the proposed expansion of its low-cost carrier, Transavia, which the company sees as a way to cut costs and stay competitive. Air France
Oil near its low for the year despite turmoil

Sept 24, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) ― The oil market has lost its jitters. Some regions around the world are seeing the type of unrest that in the past sent oil prices soaring. Yet oil is down about $15 since mid-summer and near its low for the year. Even with escalating violence in Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest exporter, and multiple rounds of sanctions by Western nations against Russia, the biggest exporter outside of OPEC, oil keeps on flowing. The major exporting nations continue to ship their crude, and production
Nearly 700 held or probed in major Asia counterfeit sweep

Sept 23, 2014

LYON (AFP) ― More than 660 people were arrested or put under investigation in a major police operation across 10 Asian countries that targeted criminal networks trading fake and potentially dangerous products, Interpol announced Monday.The international police organization said security forces and border agencies in countries ranging from Cambodia and China to India and the Philippines had seized counterfeit goods worth nearly $50 million, including alcohol, cigarettes, cosmetics, clothing and e
Retailer Tesco suspends execs over inflated profit report

Sept 23, 2014

LONDON (AP) ― Tesco, the world’s second-largest supermarket chain after Walmart, has suspended four executives and launched an accounting investigation after admitting that its half-year profit was overstated by 250 million pounds ($407 million).The scandal deepens the financial woes for the British company, which on Monday had to issue its third profit warning in two years as it struggles to compete with low-cost rivals. The announcements shocked investors, with shares plunging 11.6 percent to
New iPhone sales top 10m

Sept 23, 2014

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Apple broke its sales record for an opening weekend of a new iPhone model, delivering 10 million in three days and boasting it could have sold more if it had them.“Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn‘t be happier,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said Monday.“We could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible.” A customer pays for an iPhone 6 at a
China manufacturing gauge picks up in September

Sept 23, 2014

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s manufacturing sector saw a surprise pick up in September, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday, but economists warned a slowdown in the key property sector was an ongoing risk to growth.HSBC said its preliminary purchasing managers index advanced to a two-month high of 50.5, higher than a final reading of 50.2 in August and providing some respite after a string of weak data pointing to a slowdown in world’s second-largest economy.A reading above 50 indicates the sector
U.S. targets firms moving overseas

Sept 23, 2014

Administration makes it harder, less lucrative for companies to move overseas to avoid taxes
Fed’s Plosser plans to retire

Sept 23, 2014

Charles Plosser (Bloomberg)Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser, who votes on policy this year, will retire after eight years in which he became a consistent critic of the central bank’s unprecedented easing. Plosser, 66, will step down on March 1, the reserve bank said Monday in a statement. The bank’s Chairman James Nevels, founder of The Swarthmore Group, and Deputy Chairman Michael Angelakis, chief financial officer of Comcast Corp., will lead a search committee to
Draghi: Euro recovery losing momentum

Sept 23, 2014

FRANKFURT (AP) ― European Central Bank head Mario Draghi defended the bank’s new stimulus programs as he warned that the weak economic recovery in the eurozone “is losing momentum.” Draghi told members of the European parliament Monday there was no sign yet of a halt to the sharp decline in economic indicators seen in August. The 18 countries that use the euro saw no economic growth at all in the second quarter ― an alarming signal after only four quarters of weak growth. “The economic recovery
Fed needs U.S. economy to run ‘a little hot’

Sept 23, 2014

Inflation running below the Federal Reserve’s target argues for “patience” on interest-rate increases and may require letting the economy run “a little hot,” New York Fed President William Dudley said. “Depending on where inflation is, I can certainly imagine a scenario where the unemployment rate dips a little below” what the Fed considers maximum employment, he said Monday in an interview with Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News. “We really need the economy to run a little hot f