Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Man escapes DUI charges by downing bottle of soju while pulled over
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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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K-pop star lip-syncing controversy flares up again
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35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'
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Slew of top K-pop stars ready to return from military
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S. Korea, US clinch 2026-30 defense cost-sharing deal in pre-election push
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[Reporter’s Notebook] Was Netflix film opening BIFF really a bad thing?
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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Controversial cult leader’s sentence reduced to 17 years
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Economic grudge fuels Catalan independence fight
BARCELONA, Catalonia (AFP) -- As Catalans rallied Wednesday for a dramatic 400-kilometre (250-mile) independence protest, their zeal to break from the rest of recession-hit Spain was being fed by deep resentment over Madrid's economic policies.Many in Catalonia, renowned as Spain's industrial heartland, hold a grudge against the Spanish government, which they accuse of imposing unfair taxes and failing to fulfil promises of public investment.Catalan regional president Artur Mas protested the "un
Sept. 11, 2013
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Russia may up Iran arms sales if U.S. strikes Syria
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia could expand arms sales to Iran and revise the terms of U.S. military transit to Afghanistan if Washington launches a strike on Syria, a senior Russian lawmaker said Wednesday.Alexei Pushkov, the Kremlin-connected chief of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, told lawmakers that Moscow hopes that the U.S. will back Russia's proposal for Syria to put its chemical weapons under international control for their subsequent dismantling.During Wednesday'
Sept. 11, 2013
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Car bomb hits Libyan Foreign Ministry in Benghazi
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- A powerful car bomb exploded Wednesday near Libya's Foreign Ministry building in the heart of the eastern coastal city of Benghazi, security officials said, exactly one year after an attack there killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.The early morning blast targeted a building that once housed the U.S. Consulate under the rule of King Idris, who former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi overthrew in a 1969 bloodless coup. The explosion caused no serious casualt
Sept. 11, 2013
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Prosecutor calls for death in Delhi bus rape case
NEW DELHI (AP) -- Saying their crime shocked the conscience of India, the prosecutor in the fatal New Delhi gang rape called Wednesday for all four convicted rapists to be hanged, while one of the defendants shouted out his innocence as police drove him into the courthouse.It was not clear which of the four men was shouting, because his face was obscured behind the police van's heavy metal mesh, but he repeatedly called out, "I am innocent! I am innocent!" as the van drove past a scrum of report
Sept. 11, 2013
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Indian court convicts 4 in gang rape case
NEW DELHI (AP) ― An Indian court convicted four men Tuesday in the deadly gang rape of a young woman on a moving New Delhi bus, a brutal crime that galvanized public anger over the widespread ― yet widely tolerated ― sexual violence faced by Indian women. As word of the verdict filtered out, protesters outside the courthouse chanted “Hang them! Hang them!” The men were convicted on all 11 counts against them, including rape and murder, and now face the possibility of hanging. The sentences are e
Sept. 11, 2013
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Antigovernment protester dies in Turkey
ISTANBUL (AP) ― Hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police in southern Turkey on Tuesday following a funeral for a 22-year-old protester whose death provoked calls for a revival of the massive antigovernment protests that swept the country over the summer. Protesters also were gathering in other Turkish cities, including Ankara and Istanbul, where police launched tear gas at demonstrators who were seen throwing projectiles. In Istanbul, protesters chanted “Taksim is everywhere,” referring to
Sept. 11, 2013
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Japan boosts security near disputed isles
TOKYO (AP) ― Japan has increased security around a group of disputed islands it nationalized one year ago Wednesday amid strong protests from China, which also claims them and has been stepping up patrols of its own. Tokyo and Beijing are at odds over the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyutai in Chinese. Wednesday marks the first anniversary of Japan’s purchase of several of the islands from their private owners ― a sale China says was invalid. Both
Sept. 11, 2013
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NSA documents show spy agency violated privacy rules
WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. intelligence officials declassified documents Tuesday revealing the National Security Agency violated privacy rules for three years when it sifted phone records of Americans with no suspected links to terrorists.The revelations raised fresh questions about the NSA’s ability to manage the massive amount of data it collects and whether the U.S. government is able to safeguard the privacy of its citizens.The government was forced to disclose the documents by a judge’s order
Sept. 11, 2013
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U.S. spying on Brazil halts talks on warplane purchase: source
BRASILIA (AFP) ― Alleged U.S. spying on the communications of Brazil’s president have brought negotiations on buying U.S. warplanes to a halt, a Brazilian government source said Tuesday.The talks have been going on for years, and got a nudge with a visit from Vice President Joe Biden in May.“The negotiations were going very well, and then they stopped” with the recent press reports that the National Security Agency had spied on the online and other communications of President Dilma Rousseff. Mex
Sept. 11, 2013
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Pope says old convents should house refugees
ROME (AFP) ― Pope Francis on Tuesday called for disused Catholic convents to be used to house asylum-seekers instead of being converted into luxury hotels, speaking during a visit to a refugee center.The pope, who arrived with a single bodyguard, spoke to dozens of African migrants during his visit to the Astalli centre and also called for greater respect for diversity.“The Church does not need to turn empty convents into hotels to earn money. Empty convents are not ours, they are for the flesh
Sept. 11, 2013
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Obama blends threat of attack, diplomacy
WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama used a nationally televised address Tuesday night to make his case for military action against Syria, telling skeptical Americans that President Bashar Assad’s government posed a threat to U.S. security even as he recognized that diplomatic steps could render attacks unnecessary. While noting he had asked Congress to postpone action on Syria while diplomacy unfolded, Obama also said he has ordered the U.S. military to remain prepared to carry out attacks
Sept. 11, 2013
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Documentary filmmaker Saul Landau dies at 77
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Saul Landau, a prolific, award-winning documentary filmmaker who traveled the world profiling political leaders like Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Chile’s Salvador Allende and used his camera to draw attention to war, poverty and racism, has died. He was 77.Landau, who had been battling bladder cancer for two years, died Monday night at home in Alameda, California, with his children and grandchildren, said colleague John Cavanagh, director of the Institute for Policy Studies in Wash
Sept. 11, 2013
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Question of enforcement casts cloud on Syria plan
A Russian plan for Syria to turn over its chemical weapons to avert Western missile strikes bogged down Tuesday when Moscow rejected U.S. and French demands for a binding U.N. resolution with “very severe consequences” for non-compliance.The surprise Russian proposal, which Syria and the United States both accepted, would put President Bashar Assad's regime's chemical stockpile under international control before its eventual dismantling. The initiative _ also cautiously endorsed by Britain and F
Sept. 11, 2013
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Tokyo Olympics could seal Japan’s revival: analysts
TOKYO (AFP) ― The 2020 Olympics could seal the revival of Japan’s long-stagnant economy, analysts say, an echo of the 1964 Tokyo Games that showcased a nation risen from the ashes of defeat.Staging the world’s biggest sporting jamboree “is clearly a plus to (economic) growth,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told journalists in Buenos Aires, hours after the Japanese capital was named as host.“Japan has had 15 years of economic stagnation ... and we’ve lost confidence in ourselves. But I hope this will
Sept. 10, 2013
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Syria says it accepts Russian weapons proposal
Syria has accepted a Russian proposal to place its chemical weapons under international control for dismantling, the Syrian foreign minister said Tuesday, amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at averting Western military action. Speaking in Moscow, Walid al-Moallem said his government quickly agreed to the plan to “derail U.S. aggression” _ an allusion to possible U.S.-led strikes over a deadly Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus that Western powers blame on the Syrian regime.
Sept. 10, 2013
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Iran ministers set up Facebook pages
TEHRAN (AP) ― Iran’s curious world of online politics looked a bit more crowded Monday with members of President Hasan Rouhani’s Cabinet encouraged to open their own Facebook pages ― in a country where authorities, at the same time, try to block the public from social media.The government-as-Facebook Friends initiative, reported by the pro-reform Shargh daily, is seen as part of Rouhani’s efforts to give the presidency a makeover as more accountable and accessible after his combative predecessor
Sept. 10, 2013
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Iran won’t give up ‘one iota’ of nuclear rights
TEHRAN (AFP) ― Iran will not give up “one iota” of its nuclear rights, Iranian President Hasan Rowhani said in a speech to clerics, Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday. Rowhani’s comments come ahead of a meeting in New York later in the month between his foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on restarting negotiations over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.“Our government will not give up one iota of its absolute rights” on the nuclear issue, Ro
Sept. 10, 2013
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Chinese flotilla enters disputed island waters
TOKYO (AFP) ― Seven Chinese ships were in waters around islands at the center of a bitter dispute with Japan on Tuesday, the day before the anniversary of Tokyo’s nationalization of part of the chain.The Chinese coastguard flotilla is the biggest seen in waters around the Tokyo-administered Senkakus since eight government ships were tracked there in April, a spokesman for the Japanese coastguard said.Official media in China, citing the State Oceanic Administration, said it was the 59th “patrol”
Sept. 10, 2013
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Ban calls for destruction of Syria’s chemical arms
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ― U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons in internationally supervised safe zones.Ban told reporters he may propose the zones to the U.N. Security Council if U.N. inspectors confirm the use of the banned weapons. He said it would also be a bid to overcome the 15-nation council’s “embarrassing paralysis” over the Syria conflict.“I am considering urging the Security Council to demand the immediate transfer of Syria’s chemical w
Sept. 10, 2013
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Obama takes Syria argument to skeptical Congress
President Barack Obama is going to Congress on Tuesday with fresh hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough that would allow Syria's government to avert U.S. missile strikes if it surrenders its chemical weapons arsenal. He then addresses the nation from the White House Tuesday night.Obama had planned to use Tuesday's meetings to lobby for his plan of targeted strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in retaliation for last month's chemical weapons attack outside of Damascus. Instead, he
Sept. 10, 2013