Business

Pyongyang opens newly built bag factory

PYONGYANG, North Korea (Reuters) —  North Korea held an opening ceremony for a newly built bag factory on Tuesday (January 10) in Pyongyang. Video provided by North Korea’s official news agency KCNA, which Reuters cannot independently verify, showed state officials and workers celebrating the opening of the new plant. “The Pyongyang Bag Factory is the culmination of love and was constructed with the respected supreme leader’s direct suggestions and his noble love of the future […]

Yahoo renames itself Altaba

(Reuters) — Yahoo’s getting a new name, and it’s shrinking its board. It’ll rename itself Altaba after it closes its $4.8 billion deal with Verizon. CEO Marissa Mayer will step down from its board, and several other directors including co-founder David Filo, will leave as well. The new name perhaps partly reflects where the company gets its value, Alibaba. Altaba will be a holding company. Its main assets: a 15 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce […]

VW says has draft $4.3 bn deal to settle US criminal charges

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Volkswagen AG said on Tuesday it had a “concrete draft” for a $4.3 billion deal to settle the US criminal case surrounding the emissions-cheating scandal known as “dieselgate.” The German automaker said it was in advanced discussions with the US Justice Department and US Customs and Border Protection to settle the criminal investigation and pay fines but this was subject to approval by VW’s board. It could be approved as […]

VW looking to regain customer trust after emissions scandal

Volkswagen brand chief Herbert Diess says the company must “assume all responsibilities” after a Volkswagen executive was arrested in the US on conspiracy charges in the “dieselgate” emissions-cheating scandal. Speaking at the Detroit auto show, Diess also says he hopes American customers “will give us another chance if we behave correctly.” https://youtu.be/dyD4kU7_3CU

Yahoo chief Marissa Mayer to leave company board after Verizon sale

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Yahoo confirmed on Monday that chief executive Marissa Mayer will quit the company’s board after its merger with Verizon. Mayer is expected to remain with Yahoo’s core business, which is being bought by the US telecom titan. Yahoo is selling its main operating business as a way to separate that from its more valuable stake in Chinese internet giant Alibaba. The share-tending entity, to be renamed Altaba, Inc., will […]

McDonald’s sells China operations for $2.08 billion

BEIJING, China (AFP) — US fast-food giant McDonald’s will sell its mainland China and Hong Kong franchise business to a consortium of Citic Group and the Carlyle Group for up to $2.08 billion, the companies said Monday. Citic Limited, Citic Capital Holdings, Carlyle Group and McDonald’s will form a company that will act as the franchisee responsible for the chain’s business in mainland China and Hong Kong for 20 years, Citic Limited said in a […]

PHL strong fundamentals to keep interest rates low—DOF

MANILA, Jan. 8 – The Philippines would continue to enjoy low interest rates for so long as the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals are kept intact, the Department of Finance (DOF) said. Based on the DOF Economic Bulletin submitted to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, maintaining good macroeconomic fundamentals is the best way to keep the local interest rates down as the US Federal Reserve raises its key policy rate. Dominguez pointed out, however, that the Philippines’ stable […]

Fiat Chrysler announces creation of 2,000 US jobs

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Fiat Chrysler on Sunday announced it was creating 2,000 jobs in the United States, coming as President-elect Donald Trump has been publicly scolding automakers for investing in Mexico. The American-Italian firm will invest $1 billion by 2020 in two of its factories in the Midwestern states of Michigan and Ohio, where the new jobs will be based, the company said in a statement coming on the eve of the Detroit […]

Samsung expects Q4 profits to hit three-year high

(REUTERS) — As Samsung bounces back from the dark days of the exploding phone saga, things are looking a lot brighter going forward. The South Korean tech giant on Friday (January 6) saying fourth quarter operating profit looks good to come in at just under 8 billion dollars… That’s 50 percent higher than the year before, despite a 2 billion dollar hit from the infamous Galaxy Norte 7, which was pulled from shelves around the […]

QC extends tax payment hour

  QUEZON CITY, Jan. 6 (PIA) — Mayor Herbert Bautista has called on the city’s taxpayers, especially those renewing their business permits and licenses, to take advantage of the extended business days and hours in city hall offices involved in tax assessment and payments. The extended working days and hours that began January 3 would mean that all revenue-generating offices at city hall will be from 8 a.m. and even extend beyond 5 p.m. on […]

Trump tweet targets Toyota

Reuters — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday (January 5) targeted Toyota Motor Corp, threatening to impose a hefty fee on the Japanese automaker it if builds its Corolla cars for the U.S. market at a plant in Mexico. “Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax,” Trump said in a post on Twitter. Toyota, […]

Bitcoin nears record high as it becomes ‘safe haven’ asset

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Bitcoin neared record highs Thursday with the surging digital currency tipped to become a new safe haven asset as the world grapples with growing economic uncertainty. The unit broke the $1,100 barrier on the Bitcoin Price Index, an average of major exchanges, to continue a dizzying rise that made it the best performing currency of 2016. It has fluctuated wildly since it was created in 2009 and lost three quarters […]