Janet Yellen says the economy has regained ground lost to the deepest recession since the 1930s. But she says unemployment remains too high at 7.3 percent and notes that the Fed is still trying to accelerate the economy's recovery.In testimony prepared for her confirmation hearing Thursday, Yellen says the economy is still performing far below its potential. And she points out that inflation is running below the Fed's 2 percent target.“For these reasons, the Federal Reserve is using its monetary

South Korean stocks began higher Thursday as remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve chief candidate suggesting the stimulus tapering will not happen soon cheered investors, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 14.48 points, or 0.74 percent, to 1,978.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares gathered ground across the board, with techs and autos leading the climb. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained 1.7 percent, with SK hynix hiking 2.4 percent. Hy

South Korean stocks traded 0.9 percent lower late Wednesday morning, as large-cap tech firms and steelmakers widened their losses, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 18 points to 1,977.48 as of 11:20 a.m.Chip giant SK hynix shed 1.1 percent and Hyundai Steel fell 2.7 percent. But domestic-focused shares rose. State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. shot up more than 2 percent, with top mobile carrier SK Telecom advancing 0.5 percent. The local currency w

The second son of the head of major family-run conglomerate Hyosung Group has undergone questioning by prosecutors over suspicions of tax evasion and accounting fraud, prosecutors said Wednesday.The country's 26th-largest business group has been probed by the prosecution on charges of evading a massive amount of taxes, embezzlement through accounting fraud and amassing slush funds overseas.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigating the case called in Cho Hyun-moon, the second s

South Korea's corporate watchdog has raised its target for money collected as fines and penalties for next year, government sources said Wednesday, in an apparent move to toughen the crackdown on unfair business activities. According to the sources from the finance ministry and the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the FTC plans to collect 695.3 billion won ($648.6 million) in fines and penalties next year, which is up 15 percent, or 91.8 billion won, from this year.The fines and penalties are mostly

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Wednesday, as investors stayed cautious ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on the next day (Seoul time). The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 8.64 points, or 0.43 percent to 1,986.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech firms and steelmakers led the decline, with Samsung Electronics losing 1.2 percent and POSCO sliding 0.8 percent. Analysts said key Fed officials' split views over when the Fed wi

Israel's prime minister on Tuesday abruptly halted a plan to explore the potential construction of thousands of new homes in West Bank settlements, saying it had created an “unnecessary confrontation” with the international community that threatened to weaken his campaign against Iran's suspect nuclear program. The plan announced by Israel's Housing Ministry earlier in the day had prompted a Palestinian threat to walk out of U.S.-brokered peace talks and drew angry criticism from officials in Wa

A spectacular and rare orange diamond, the largest known gem of its kind, was on Tuesday auctioned off for a record $31.5 million in Geneva."At the back of the hall, 29 million francs ($31.5 million, 23 million euros). Sold!" the Christie's auctioneer said as the fiery almond-shaped gem was snapped up in a room of about 200 people in a luxury Geneva hotel.The price excluded another $4.04 million in taxes and commission.The man who made the purchase swiftly got up and left the room to a round of

China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Cuba and Algeria won seats Tuesday on the U.N. Human Rights Council, riling independent human rights groups who said their election undermined the rights watchdog's credibility.The General Assembly elected 14 new members to the 47-seat Geneva-based council, which can shine a spotlight on rights abuses by adopting resolutions _ when it chooses to do so. It also has dozens of special monitors watching problem countries and major issues ranging from executions

Apple announced Tuesday it has begun selling its newly revamped iPad mini tablet with an enhanced "retina" display, for which it had not previously announced a firm launch date.Apple unveiled the new gadget on October 22 at the same time as its larger sibling, the iPad Air, but said the mini would be sold at an unspecified date in November.Apple is the largest single vendor of tablets although its market share has now slipped amid competition from rivals.Analysts say the lower-priced iPad mini a