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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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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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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Bill Gross: I was fired from Pimco
Bill Gross said he was fired from Pacific Investment Management Co., the first time he’s publicly confirmed that he was dismissed from the firm he cofounded in 1971. Gross, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg View’s Barry Ritholtz, said he offered to step down from the executive committee and compensation committee and oversee closed-end funds after differences with management over his personality and the firm’s business direction. The full interview airs on Bloomberg Radio on Jan. 17 at 10
Jan. 13, 2015
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Oil extends 'disconcerting' fall
Oil extended its "disconcerting" plunge towards six-year lows in Asia Tuesday after Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs lowered its price forecast, adding to concerns about a supply glut and weak demand.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for February delivery was down 82 cents at $45.25 a barrel in afternoon trade and Brent crude for February dropped 99 cents to $46.44.On Monday Brent plunged more than five percent to close below $50 for the first time since April 2009, and WTI fell 4.7 percent to
Jan. 13, 2015
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Maduro holds talks in OPEC kingpin Saudi
RIYADH (AFP) ― Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held talks in OPEC’s leading oil producer Saudi Arabia on Sunday, officials said, before he headed to Algeria for further dialogue about low world crude prices.“The visit aims to strengthen ties and friendship,” a Venezuelan official told AFP in brief remarks, adding that it was “part of the tour to OPEC members.”Maduro arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday from Iran, a fellow member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Count
Jan. 12, 2015
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Goldman sees need for $40 oil
Goldman Sachs said U.S. oil prices need to trade near $40 a barrel in the first half of this year to curb shale investments as it gave up on OPEC cutting output to balance the market. The bank cut its forecasts for global benchmark crude prices, predicting inventories will increase over the first half of this year, according to an emailed report. Excess storage and tanker capacity suggests the market can run a surplus far longer than it has in the past, said Goldman analysts including Jeffrey Cu
Jan. 12, 2015
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Cyprus’ national airline to shut after breaking EU rules
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ― Cyprus’ national airline lost its operating license and stopped all flights after the European Union ruled that it had illegally received tens of millions of euros in state aid, officials said Friday.Finance Minister Harris Georgiades and Communications Minister Marios Demetriades said that an administrator will now be tasked with winding down Cyprus Airways. The country’s air transport licensing authority said it revoked the airline’s license because it could not ensure f
Jan. 11, 2015
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Iran, Venezuela vow to ‘neutralize’ oil price problem
TEHRAN (AFP) ― Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, flanked by Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, vowed Saturday to “neutralize” the threat posed to both countries by plummeting oil prices, in a barely veiled broadside at Saudi Arabia.OPEC members Iran and Venezuela are reeling from a slide in the cost of crude to around $50 per barrel from $100 just six months ago, a precipitous fall that is straining their budgets.Losses accelerated after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries carte
Jan. 11, 2015
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ECB board member says no deflation in eurozone
BERLIN (AFP) ― ECB board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger has disputed in a magazine interview that the eurozone is now experiencing deflation and expressed skepticism about the central bank buying up sovereign bonds. Markets surged this week as investors bet data showing prices fell year-on-year in the eurozone in December would push the ECB to launch massive purchases of government bonds, only to slump back on indications it may act cautiously.“We are seeing persistent weak inflation, due to amon
Jan. 11, 2015
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U.S. retakes helm of global economy
The U.S. is back in the driver’s seat of the global economy after 15 years of watching China and emerging markets take the lead. The world’s biggest economy will expand by 3.2 percent or more this year, its best performance since at least 2005, as an improving job market leads to stepped-up consumer spending, according to economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Deutsche Bank AG and BNP Paribas SA. That outcome would be about what each foresees for the world economy as a whole and would be the first
Jan. 11, 2015
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Fitch downgrades Russia rating, sets negative outlook
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Fitch Ratings cut Russia’s credit grade Friday to just one notch above junk level, saying plunging oil prices and Western sanctions will force a four percent economic contraction this year.Fitch lowered its rating for Russian government debt by one step to “BBB-,” the lowest possible investment grade, and added a negative outlook on the rating.“The economic outlook has deteriorated significantly since mid-2014 following sharp falls in the oil price and the ruble, coupled with
Jan. 11, 2015
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Car of the future emerges at CES
LAS VEGAS (AFP) ― It has four wheels, is always connected and the driver is optional: The car of the future is starting to take shape from collaboration between automakers and their technology partners.At this week’s International CES in Las Vegas, a new breed of cars with nearly complete autonomy and elaborate gadgetry has provided a peek into transportation solutions in the coming years.One of the most ambitious of the prototypes on display comes from German auto giant Daimler, which rolled it
Jan. 8, 2015
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Oil plunge benefits Asian economies
SINGAPORE (AFP) ― The plunge in crude prices will give a much-needed boost to Asia’s oil-guzzling economies and provides governments a “golden opportunity” to implement crucial structural reforms such as cutting expensive energy subsidies, analysts say.A slowdown in the key export markets of Europe, China and Japan, the end of U.S. stimulus measures, and an expected U.S. rate hike ― fuelling a flight of foreign cash in search of better returns ― has left some governments having to make tough dec
Jan. 8, 2015
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Xi hosts Latin American bloc, hails burgeoning ties with region
BEIJING (AP) ― Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed burgeoning ties Thursday with Latin America, pledging to use his country’s economic clout to support billions of dollars in regional projects and almost double two-way trade to $500 billion over the next 10 years. Xi was holding talks with officials from left-leaning nations in the Western Hemisphere a day after meeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who said he received pledges of $20 billion in Chinese investment into his country’s belea
Jan. 8, 2015
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Eurozone faces dangers of deflation
LONDON (AP) ― The eurozone has a new economic headache to contend with. Consumer prices fell in December in the currency bloc for the first time in over five years, raising concerns of a protracted drop that can hurt growth and reinforcing expectations the European Central Bank will provide an aggressive stimulus. Lower energy costs pushed consumer prices 0.2 percent lower in the month from the year before, according to a report Wednesday by the Eurostat statistics agency. That’s a big drop from
Jan. 8, 2015
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Fed worries about international risks to U.S. economy
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The Federal Reserve worried about foreign risks to the U.S. economy but could raise interest rates despite weaker-than-desired inflation, according to the minutes of the last meeting published Wednesday.“Many participants regarded the international situation as an important source of downside risks to domestic real activity and employment,” said the minutes of the Dec. 16-17 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.The potential for weaker U.S. economic growth would rise “
Jan. 8, 2015
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Brent oil price falls below $50
LONDON (AFP) ― European benchmark Brent oil sank under $50 per barrel on Wednesday for the first time since 2009, hit by OPEC‘s production stance, oversupply, weak demand and the strong dollar.In morning London deals, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February dived to a 5 1/2-year low at $49.81 a barrel. New York crude had already slumped under $50 on Monday.“The move below $50 shows how momentum is everything here,” CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson told AFP.“With no sign that OPEC will d
Jan. 7, 2015
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Venezuelan leader turns to China amid oil collapse
CARACAS (AFP) ― Sliding oil prices have sent Venezuela on a downward spiral ― and sent President Nicolas Maduro on a trip to China to make an urgent appeal for cash.Maduro, who announced his “very important tour” in a national address Sunday after admitting Venezuela was in recession, made a stopover in fellow oil giant Russia on Monday before arriving Tuesday in China, his country‘s largest investor and second-largest oil customer.The socialist leader, who has promised policy changes to address
Jan. 7, 2015
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Sharp recession hits global oilfields
NEW YORK (AFP) ― The oil price plunge will force energy companies to slash capital spending in North America, Europe and Asia in 2015, investment bank Evercore IS said Tuesday.But investment will continue to rise in Africa and the Middle East as producers in those areas seek to boost long-term output in the flooded global oil market.Evercore estimated that oil companies would cut spending on exploration and production globally this year by 10-15 percent, and by 25-30 percent in North America.“To
Jan. 7, 2015
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Elections, bankruptcy, bank runs: Unlikely scenario of ‘Grexit’
PARIS (AFP) ― A government which refuses to pay its debts, bank runs and investors fleeing: that is what a Greek exit from the euro, or a “Grexit,” would look like according to economists, although most still believe it is unlikely.Europe has seen this drama played out several times since Greece’s first bailout in 2010: a difficult event for Athens, a more or less official comment coming from Germany, markets tanking on Grexit speculation.This past week the plot was the same: the German magazine
Jan. 7, 2015
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Bill Gross says good times are over
Bond investor Bill Gross. (Bloomberg)Bill Gross, the former manager of the world’s largest bond fund, said prices for many assets will fall this year as record-low interest rates fail to restore sufficient economic growth. With global expansion still sputtering after years of interest rates near zero, investors will gradually seek alternatives to risky assets, Gross wrote Tuesday in an investment outlook for Janus Capital Group Inc., where he runs the $1.2 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond
Jan. 7, 2015
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U.S. car sales best since 2006
NEW YORK (AFP) ― U.S. automakers reported strong December domestic sales Monday to cap off a solid year of growth, with consumers still readily buying cars and trucks despite a record year of recalls.Analysts estimate the December surge took the total 2014 U.S. market to more than 16.5 million vehicles, giving the industry its best year since 2006, just before the economy began sinking into crisis and recession.GM reported that it had the best December in seven years, with a 19 percent year-on-y
Jan. 6, 2015