Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday that it has agreed to end its joint liquid crystal display venture with Sony Corp. as the global panel industry continues to struggle with a prolonged downturn in TV demand. The Korean firm decided to buy Sony’s entire stake in the joint venture, S-LCD Corp., for 1.08 trillion won ($939.6 million), it said in a statement. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of next month, pending regulatory approval. Even though the joint venture will come to a clo

Dec. 26, 2011

STX OSV Holdings Ltd., a European unit of South Korean shipbuilding conglomerate STX Group, has clinched a 40 billion won ($33.6 million) deal to build a fish feed carrier, the group said Monday.Under the deal with Eidsvaag AS, STX OSV will deliver the vessel by the second quarter of 2013, the company said in a statement.The vessel, 75 meters long and 13.6 meters wide, will be used to deliver fish feed to fish farms and operate for Skretting AS, the world leader in the production and supply of f

Dec. 26, 2011

South Korea will spend $2.61 million in the next four years to help fight foot-and-mouth disease in Southeast Asian countries, a main source of the disease that affects hoofed animals, including cows and pigs, the government said Monday.Under a joint prevention program with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the money will help set up disease prevention and control systems in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.The

Dec. 26, 2011

Stuttgart (dpa) - Scientists at Germany's Fraunhofer Societyresearch organisation have developed a machine that makes artificialskin fully automatically.If it receives approval from the relevant control bodies in Europeit could make animal testing in laboratories obsolete.The machine is seven metres

Dec. 26, 2011

LONDON (AP) _ The loose-knit hacking movement ``Anonymous'' claimed to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals' accounts to give away as

Dec. 26, 2011

Dec. 25, 2011

PARIS (AP) -- France took a costly and unprecedented leap Friday in offering to pay for 30,000 women to have their breast implants removed because of mounting fears the products could rupture and leak cheap, industrial-grade silicone into the body.Tens of thousands of other women elsewhere in Europe

Dec. 25, 2011

Apple Inc. is unlikely to win a ban on sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy 10.1N tablet computer, a modified version introduced after sales of the original tablet were blocked, a German court said.The Dusseldorf court that banned sales of the Galaxy 10.1 on Sept. 9 is unlikely to grant Apple an injunction against the Galaxy 10.1N, presiding judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann said at a hearing Thursday. Samsung has changed the device’s design sufficiently to distance it from the iPad, she said

Dec. 23, 2011

WASHINGTON, Dec 22, 2011 (AFP) - A landmark clinical trial that showed HIV drugs can be as effective as condoms in preventing transmission of the virus that causes AIDS was declared Science magazine's breakthrough of the year on Thursday.Other top achievements of 2011 included a Japanese spacecraft'

Dec. 23, 2011

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is unlikely to win a ban on sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy 10.1N tablet computer, a modified version introduced after sales of the original tablet were blocked, a German court said.The Dusseldorf court that banned sales of the Galaxy 10.1 on Sept. 9 is un

Dec. 23, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Scientists in the United States said Monday they have developed a vaccine that attacks tumors in mice, a breakthrough they hope will help fight breast, colon, ovarian and pancreatic cancer in humans.Although studies on mice often do not translate directly into remedies that work for human subjects, researchers are hopeful because of the strength of the vaccine and the particular approach it takes.“This vaccine elicits a very strong immune response,” said study co-senior author

Dec. 22, 2011

Ewha Womans University Medical Center said it has been equipped with a positron emission tomography scanner, a first for Korea.The device produces medical imaging while halving patients’ exposure to CT radioactivity, the hospital said.“It will lessen people’s anxiety regarding radioactivity, which is essential in medical imaging devices,” said Dr. Kim Bong-san, in charge of the device operation.(baejisook@heraldm.com)

Dec. 22, 2011

Cardiac disease Koreans’ third-biggest cause of death; best prevention includes not smokingThe news of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death of myocardial infarction has brought the disease into the public view again. According to Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, cardiac disease is the third-biggest cause of death for Koreans behind cancer and cerebrovascular diseases. In 2010, 23,407 people, or 9.2 percent of all fatalities, died of heart disorders. The U.S. National I

Dec. 22, 2011

The Korea Food and Drug Administration is to allow the use of saccharin in gum, soju, makgeolli and other foods. The substance has been off the list of food additives except in a limited number of cases due to its health risks.According to the KFDA, the substance will be allowed for use in eight food categories: sauce, unrefined rice wine (commonly referred to as makgeolli), chewing gum, soju, soy sauce, tomato ketchup and coffee. It is currently used in kimchi, some beverage products and pickle

Dec. 22, 2011