Korea Ratings, a leading credit rating agency in South Korea, downgraded the credit outlook for CJ CGV from "stable" to "negative" Wednesday, citing a growing financial burden from its planned takeover of a Turkish cinema chain.CJ CGV, South Korea's top operator of multi-screen theaters, announced earlier that its consortium would buy Istanbul-based Mars Entertainment Group for 792 billion won ($682 million).CJ CGV plans to pay 300 billion won to secure a 38.1 percent stake.Korea Ratings noted t

Heavily armed police swept into Brussels neighborhoods Friday in operations linked to this week's bombings as well as a suspected new plot in France, detaining three people and shooting two of them in the leg. One man was carrying a suspicious bag while accompanied by a young girl.As Easter weekend began, jittery Europeans faced uncertainly about how many violent extremists remain at large, and where and when they might strike again. On Friday afternoon, two blasts and gunfire rang out in the Sc

South Korea's state-run pension fund actively exercised its voting rights last year with its number of dissenting votes edging up, data showed Saturday.Data from the National Pension Service (NPS), the operator of the fund, showed it voted against 10 percent of 2,836 resolutions last year at shareholders meetings of the companies it invested in, a 1.1 percentage point rise from a year earlier.The fund had been casting more opposing votes in the past few years, the no votes accounting for 6.6 per

 South Korean shares will likely remain rangebound ahead of key U.S. indicators next week, but begin an upward march toward the end on a continued inflow of foreign capital, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,983.81 on Friday, down 0.4 percent from a week earlier.Foreign investors purchased a net 286 billion won ($244.2 million) worth of stocks. Both retail and institutional investors were net sellers as they sought to cash in on their gain

Tens of thousands of jubilant Cubans and tourists swarmed the site of the Rolling Stones' free concert in Havana Friday, calling it a historic moment for a country that once forced rock fans to listen to their favorite music behind closed doors. Coming just two days after Barack Obama finished the first trip to Cuba by a U.S. president in nearly 90 years, the evening concert cemented the communist-run nation's opening to the world. Organizers expect at least a half million spectators to see the

U.S. forces killed a senior Islamic State leader, among several key members of the militant group eliminated this week, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Friday. The successful attack is the latest in a string of strikes targeting the group's leadership even as it losses territory in both Iraq and Syria. US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington DC, Friday. (AFP-Yonhap)Carter identified the senior IS leader as Haji Imam and described him a

The owner of Hanjin Group, parent company of the country’s largest flag carrier Korean Air, came under fire Monday for demeaning pilots by stating that they are useful only during emergencies.Commenting on a Facebook post uploaded by a Korean Air pilot, Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho said his employee was exaggerating, and that pilots’ work is easier than driving a car thanks to the autopilot system. “Pilots are briefed by flight control staff as well as weather analysis by the operation cent