Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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ECB cuts interest rate, to unveil more stimulus for eurozone
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- The European Central Bank cut one of its key interest rates and promised to unveil more stimulus measures on Thursday in an attempt to boost lending and help the growth in the 19-country eurozone economy. The bank said it is reducing the interest rate on deposits from commercial banks from minus 0.2 percent to minus 0.3 percent. The negative rate is intended to push banks to lend excess cash by imposing a penalty for leaving it at the central bank. The size of the cu
Dec. 3, 2015
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Google ups ante, nearly doubles bet on renewable energy
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google is nearly doubling the amount of renewable energy feeding its massive data centers that enable more than 1 billion people to search for information, watch video clips and communicate virtually anytime they want.The long-term commitments announced Thursday cover up to 842 megawatts of power that will flow from six different wind and solar power projects scheduled to be finished within the next two years in the U.S., Chile and Sweden. Google isn't disclosing how much i
Dec. 3, 2015
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EU launches probe into McDonald's Luxembourg tax deals
BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The European Union launched a probe Thursday into US fast food giant McDonald's tax deals with Luxembourg, widening an investigation into alleged tax dodging by major multinationals that includes Amazon and Apple.The European Commission, the EU's competition regulator, "has opened a formal probe into Luxembourg's tax treatment of McDonald's," a statement said."Its preliminary view is that a tax ruling granted by Luxembourg may have granted McDonald's an advantageous tax treatme
Dec. 3, 2015
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China's economy to grow slightly faster than expected: ADB
MANILA (AP) -- China's economy will grow slightly faster than expected this year at 6.9 percent and its shift to fostering services and private consumption is helping to support regional growth, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.An ADB report said Asia's developing economies remain resilient to economic weakness in industrialized countries and are on track to grow 5.8 percent in 2015 and 6 percent in 2016.It said Asia's growth is supported by vibrant private consumption and services in Ch
Dec. 3, 2015
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Daily won-yuan trading tops $2 bln in one year
The average daily trading volume of the won-yuan trading market here has exceeded $2 billion over the past year as it has successfully taken root to help bolster South Korea-China economic ties, data showed Tuesday.The daily turnover reached an average $2.26 billion as of end-November, compared with a daily $880 million recorded in December last year, the first month of the launch of the market, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea. In November, the figure hit $3.63 billion.The daily
Dec. 1, 2015
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IMF approves China’s yuan as elite reserve currency
The International Monetary Fund welcomed China’s yuan into its elite reserve currency basket on Monday, recognizing the ascendance of the Asian power in the global economy.The yuan, also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound next year in the basket of currencies the IMF uses as an international reserve asset.IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde called the decision “an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global f
Dec. 1, 2015
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IMF decides to include Chinese yuan in SDR basket of key currencies
The International Monetary Fund decided Monday to include China's yuan in a basket of key international currencies in a move expected to serve as a boon to the world's second-largest economy.The IMF decided at an executive board meeting to add the yuan, also known as the renminbi , to the special drawing right basket of currencies currently made up of the U.S. dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound.The decision has been widely expected after IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said ea
Dec. 1, 2015
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South Korea Grants Kakao, KT-led Groups Online Bank Permits
South Korea gave preliminary approval for two groups -- one from the new economy and another from the old, and both with Chinese partners -- to set up the nation’s first Internet-only banks as the government seeks to reinvigorate a sector suffering from slow growth and slim margins.Kakao Corp., operator of Korea’s leading messaging app KakaoTalk, and KT Corp., the former government phone monopoly, were chosen from a field of three applications. A group headed by online retail operator Interpark
Nov. 29, 2015
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Facebook ramps paid leave time for new dads
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- With Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg about to become a dad, the social network boosted the amount of time fathers can take off to bond with their new babies.Beginning with the new year, dads working full-time for Facebook anywhere in the world will have the option of taking four months' paid leave.All new dads working for Facebook outside the US currently get a minimum of four weeks' paternity leave, with more time offered in locations where required by local law, acco
Nov. 28, 2015
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[Newsmaker] Bezos’ firm claims rocket breakthrough
Jeff Bezos. BloombergThe private space firm founded by Internet entrepreneur Jeff Bezos claimed a breakthrough for its space travel efforts Tuesday with the launch of a reusable rocket.Bezos announced the milestone with his first Twitter message following the launch and return of the rocket by his firm, Blue Origin.“The rarest of beasts ― a used rocket. Controlled landing not easy, but done right, can look easy. Check out video,” said the tweet, with a link to a YouTube video.The unmanned New Sh
Nov. 25, 2015
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EPA says VW cheating software is on more vehicles
Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal widened Friday after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the German automaker used software to cheat on pollution tests on more six-cylinder diesel vehicles than originally thought.Volkswagen told the EPA and the California Air Resources Board the software is on about 85,000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles with 3-liter engines going back to the 2009 model year. Earlier this month the regulators accused VW of installing the so-called “defeat
Nov. 21, 2015
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'China should end exchange-rate distortion‘
China should press ahead with efforts to make the yuan's exchange rate more flexible as it seeks to boost the currency's global usage, according to a former central bank adviser.The yuan's likely inclusion in the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket is recognition of the progress China has made since it unified the official and market exchange rates in 1994, but more needs to be done, said Yu Yongding, a former academic member of the People's Bank of China's monetary polic
Nov. 19, 2015
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Barclays to pay $150m more in forex probe
Barclays will pay an additional $150 million to New York State’s financial regulator to resolve allegations that it rigged foreign exchange trading by putting the bank’s interests ahead of those of its clients, the regulator said on Wednesday.The British bank is also removing a head of global electronic trading for foreign exchange-related misconduct, the New York Department of Financial Services said. The person’s identity was unclear.The penalty will be reflected in Barclays’ fourth quarter 20
Nov. 19, 2015
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Fed minutes confirm Dec. hike expectations
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s late October policy board meeting confirmed Wednesday that participants expected to begin raising interest rates in December.While some at the Oct. 27-28 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee said it was already time for the first rate increase in over nine years, “most participants” expected the economic conditions would be right by their Dec. 15-16 meeting, the minutes said.That confirmed the central message of the formal October FOMC
Nov. 19, 2015
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Oil prices edge higher after U.S., Fed reports
NEW YORK (AFP) -- Global oil prices moved modestly higher Wednesday as traders weighed a small gain in U.S. inventories and a Federal Reserve report that supported expectations of a December interest rate hike. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in December edged up eight cents to $40.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent North Sea crude for January delivery, the global benchmark for crude oil, rose to $44.14 a barrel in London, up 57 cents from Tuesday's settle
Nov. 19, 2015
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[Newsmaker] Yuan’s rise means greater stability
With China’s yuan taking the biggest step yet toward joining the dollar and euro as a top-rank reserve currency, the global economy may be approaching an era of greater stability.So say economists who highlight the dollar’s role in the biggest financial crises in recent decades. Drawn to the liquidity and security of the unit of the world’s biggest economy, investors and governments relied on the dollar and produced dislocations including historically low borrowing costs in the 2000s even as the
Nov. 16, 2015
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Global shares, euro fall, oil and gold up after Paris attacks
LONDON (Reuters) - The euro hit its weakest in more than six months against the yen on Monday as investors sought safety in gold and low-risk government debt after Friday’s attacks in Paris.Oil prices edged up after France launched large-scale air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.Asian shares fell to their lowest in six weeks but European shares’ losses were modest as markets reopened after the attacks that killed more than 130 people. U.S. stock index futures turned positive, indi
Nov. 16, 2015
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Mercedes-Benz to recall 555 S63 AMG sedans for ignition problem
Germany luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz will recall 555 S63 AMG 4Matic sedans for ignition-related problems, the government said Sunday.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said cars made between May 13, 2013 and Sept. 18, 2015 will be recalled from December onwards. It said the cars have been found to have a glitch in the electronic control unit program that sometimes keeps fuel from flowing to the engine when the vehicle slows down. The drop in fuel can cause the ignition to turn o
Nov. 15, 2015
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China’s Alibaba says Singles Day sales nearly $8 bn in 10 hours
Shoppers spent nearly $8 billion in the first 10 hours of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s “Singles Day” event on Wednesday, the firm said, reinforcing its status as the world’s biggest online retail promotion.Total gross merchandise volume, a measure of sales, reached 50 billion yuan ($7.86 billion) at 9:52 am and 22 seconds, it said on its website, after the promotion began at midnight.“The whole world will witness the power of Chinese consumption this November 11,” said Alibaba’s chief exec
Nov. 12, 2015
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VW engineers admit to rigging CO2 emissions
BERLIN (Reuters) ― Several Volkswagen engineers have admitted manipulating carbon dioxide emissions data because goals set by former chief executive Martin Winterkorn were difficult to achieve, Bild am Sonntag reported.The paper said VW engineers tampered with tire pressure and mixed diesel with their motor oil to make them use less fuel, a deception that began in 2013 and carried on until spring this year.“Employees have indicated in an internal investigation that there were irregularities in a
Nov. 9, 2015