Greek president to set to urge unity government

ATHENS (AFP) – Greece's president was set Saturday to call last-ditch talks in a bid to forge an emergency unity government and avoid fresh elections, after the main parties failed to form a working coalition.Highly-indebted Greece is deeply torn over the tough austerity measures imposed as conditions for its IMF-EU bailouts, and the crisis has raised the threat it could default and leave the 17-m

May 12, 2012

U.S. lawmakers push for tactical nukes in S. Korea

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) – A U.S. congressional committee is pressuring the Obama administration to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.The House Armed Services Committee, dominated by Republicans, approved an amendment to the fiscal 2013 national defense authorization bill Thursday that calls for the re-introduction of the sensitive weapons to South Korea, according to Forei

May 12, 2012

Lee meets with Danish crown prince couple

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak hosted a luncheon for Denmark's crown prince couple Friday and the two sides discussed bilateral relations and other issues of mutual interest, the presidential office said.Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary arrived Thursday for a six-day official visit that includes attending an international conference on green growth, the opening ceremony of the W

May 11, 2012

U.S. mourns Korean nuke inspector after death in Iran

The United States expressed condolences Tuesday over the death of a South Korean nuclear inspector in Iran.Seo Ok-seok, a 58-year-old inspector at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was killed earlier in the day in a car crash near a reactor site in central Iran, according to local media and the South Korean Embassy there."We certainly express our deepest condolences to the family of t

May 9, 2012

Syria warns of response to 'intensified' rebel attacks

DAMASCUS(AFP) - Syria warned on Sunday that its forces will respond to "intensified" rebel attacks, even as UN military observers were headed for the unrest-hit country to monitor a shaky ceasefire."Armed terrorist groups have intensified their attacks in a hysterical way against the army, law enforcement forces, and civilians, in conjunction with the approval of the UN Security Council resolution

April 15, 2012

Taliban attack Afghan capital

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)--The Taliban launched a series of coordinated attacks on at least seven sites across the Afghan capital on Sunday, targeting NATO headquarters, the parliament and diplomatic residences. Militants also launched near-simultaneous assaults in three other eastern cities.At least two attackers were killed and five people wounded in the Kabul attacks, which were still under way h

April 15, 2012

China to widen yuan trading band against dollar

 BEIJING, (AFP) - China's central bank said Saturday it would widen the yuan's trading band against the dollar, loosening currency controls in a major step towards adopting more market-oriented reforms.The yuan is currently allowed to trade 0.5 percent on either side of a midpoint price set by the central bank every trading day.The new rules will come into effect on Monday and allow the currency t

April 14, 2012

Clashes in Syria cities despite U.N. rebuke

Syrian forces clashed on Saturday with rebels in two major cities, monitors said, despite U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's latest rebuke to Damascus over its assault on protest hubs ahead of a peace deadline.The U.N. secretary general strongly condemned attacks on cities across the country by forces of President Bashar al-Assad, as activists said at least 35 people, most of them civilians, were killed on

April 7, 2012

Avalanche buries 100 Pakistani soldiers on glacier

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- An avalanche smashed into a Pakistani army base on a Himalayan glacier along the Indian border on Saturday, burying around 100 soldiers, the military said.Helicopters, sniffer dogs and troops were deployed to the remote Siachen Glacier to rescue those trapped, according to a military statement.The avalanche hit a battalion headquarters in the glacier's Gayari sector at 5:45 a.m,

April 7, 2012

Japan orders interception of North Korean rocket

TOKYO (AP) ― Japan’s defense minister on Friday ordered missile units to intercept a rocket expected to be launched by North Korea next month if it flies over Japan.The order from Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka came at a meeting of Japan’s national security council. It followed instructions issued earlier in the week for the military to prepare to intercept the satellite rocket if it enters Japanese territory.The Unha-3 rocket is expected to fly past western Japan after its launch from North Kore

March 30, 2012

Obama sharpens choice for N. Korea during Seoul visit: official

U.S. President Barack Obama wrapped up a trip to South Korea Tuesday after making a pitch for a nuclear-free world and "sharpening the choice" for North Korea's new leadership -- isolation or dialogue.His three-day visit to Seoul for a nuclear security summit came amid renewed North Korean saber-rat

March 28, 2012

Experts call for bolder action to implement Seoul Communique

The second Nuclear Security Summit, in Seoul, produced a "modest but important" step forward in efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism, a group of international nuclear security experts said Tuesday.The Fissile Materials Working Group (FMWG), however, stressed that member states should take bolder act

March 28, 2012

S. Korea, EU press N. Korea to call off rocket launch plan

Leaders of South Korea and the European Union urged North Korea on Wednesday to call off its planned rocket launch, give up its nuclear programs and improve its human rights records, a joint statement said.The appeal came after President Lee Myung-bak held summit talks with European Council Presiden

March 28, 2012

Japan set for summer energy deficits with all nuclear plants offline

Japan is bracing for a 10 percent energy deficit this summer, with all its 54 nuclear power stations possibly set to be offline from May. Speaking on the sidelines of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, Noriyuki Shikata, Japan’s deputy cabinet secretary for public affairs, said that the country could cope with the estimated difference between energy demand and supply, and had been importing more fossil fuels. He said that although some power plants could go back into operation before summer: “It

March 27, 2012

Germany on course to end nuclear power but won’t push other nations

Germany is on course to end its reliance on nuclear power in 2022 but will not pressure other countries to follow suit, the country’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Tuesday.“I think every nation has the right and also responsibility to choose its own energy base,” he said on the sidelines of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. “The energy base is a national decision, and we in Germany think that the time has come to enter a new age of renewable energies.”Germany closed eight of its 17 nu

March 27, 2012

First lady hosts cultural performances for leaders' spouses

South Korean first lady Kim Yoon-ok hosted a luncheon and cultural performances on Tuesday for the visiting spouses of global leaders attending the ongoing Nuclear Security Summit.Seventeen spouses came to Seoul with heads of state and leaders of key international organizations for the global confer

March 27, 2012

Obama urges nations to continue fight against nuclear terrorism

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged other states to continue combating nuclear terrorism, saying the threat is "one of the gravest dangers of our time."The president was speaking at the first plenary session of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, which has drawn representatives from 53 na

March 27, 2012

Korea, Belgium, France, U.S. agree to develop high-density LEU

South Korea, Belgium, France and the United States said Tuesday they have agreed to develop high density, low enriched uranium (LEU) to replace highly enriched uranium (HEU) used in research reactors, removing a potential source of nuclear terrorism.The project, announced on the sidelines of the Nuc

March 27, 2012

Seoul vows to boost cultural exchanges with developing nations

South Korea on Tuesday vowed to use the ongoing Nuclear Security Summit as an opportunity to boost cultural cooperation and exchanges with the global community and promote "cultural welfare" in developing countries.South Korean Culture Minister Choe Kwang-shik told reporters at the summit media cent

March 27, 2012