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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Power blackouts hit nearly half of Venezuela
CARACAS (AP) ― A power outage hit nearly half of Venezuela on Tuesday, knocking out traffic lights and causing chaos in the streets of Caracas. Deputy Energy Minister Franco Silva said failures on several transmission lines were to blame for the blackout and told state TV that nine of Venezuela’s 23 states were affected. Venezuelans have been struggling with worsening blackouts for several years, but the capital is almost always spared. President Nicolas Maduro said the oil industry, the lifeblo
Sept. 4, 2013
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U.S. man who held three women captive commits suicide: official
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ― The man who held three women captive in his Cleveland home for nearly a decade before one escaped has been found dead and is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said. Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, located south of Columbus in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, said early Wednesday. Prison medical staff performed card
Sept. 4, 2013
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Sweden probes lost WikiLeaks luggage
STOCKHOLM (AP) ― Swedish police opened an investigation Tuesday after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urged them to find out what happened to a suitcase he suspects was stolen from him in 2010 by intelligence agents as he traveled from Sweden to Germany. The suitcase contained three laptops that had WikiLeaks materials, including evidence of a “war crime” allegedly committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to an affidavit that Assange’s lawyer filed along with a criminal complaint to p
Sept. 4, 2013
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Germany pursues Auschwitz guards
LUDWIGSBURG, Germany (AP) ― The German special prosecutors’ office that investigates Nazi war crimes said Tuesday it is recommending charges against dozens of alleged former Auschwitz guards, opening the possibility of a new wave of trials almost 70 years after the end of World War II. Federal prosecutor Kurt Schrimm, the head of the office in Ludwigsburg, said an investigation of 49 suspects turned up enough evidence to recommend that state prosecutors pursue charges of accessory to murder agai
Sept. 4, 2013
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Obama gets top Republican support on Syria strike
President Barack Obama gained ground Tuesday with his drive for congressional backing of a military strike against Syria, winning critical support from the top Republican in Washington while administration officials agreed to explicitly rule out the use of U.S. combat troops in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack.The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, said taking action is something “the United States as a country needs to do.”Boehner emerged from a meeting a
Sept. 4, 2013
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Through Syria strike, U.S. also intends message for N. Korea, Iran
As a U.S. strike on Syria looks imminent, officials here are increasingly talking about North Korea to help make the case for such military action.They emphasize the need for setting a precedent for possible similar problems caused by North Korea, Iran and terrorist groups.Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the infamous groups are watching how the U.S. responds to the Syrian crisis."Our inaction would surely give them (Iran) a permission slip for them to at l
Sept. 4, 2013
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Japan to fund ice wall to stop reactor leaks
TOKYO (AP) ― The Japanese government announced Tuesday that it is funding a costly, untested subterranean ice wall in a desperate step to stop leaks of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant after repeated failures by the plant’s operator.The decision is widely seen as a safety appeal just days before the International Olympic Committee chooses between Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid on which city will host the 2020 Olympics.The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has been leaking hundreds
Sept. 3, 2013
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China’s Xi visits Central Asia
BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s President Xi Jinping headed to Central Asia on Tuesday ahead of a G20 summit, state-run media reported, in visits expected to see energy deals and talks on slowing growth.Xi will start in Turkmenistan before meeting Group of 20 world leaders in St. Petersburg on Thursday, then stop by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the official Xinhua news agency and China Daily newspaper said.The central Asian countries were once all part of the Soviet Union, but China ― which ha
Sept. 3, 2013
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China fires official in oil giant corruption probe
BEIJING (AP) ― The head of the body that oversees China’s major state-owned companies was fired Tuesday in a spreading corruption investigation that appears to be an effort by the country’s new leaders to tighten control over government industries. The Communist Party dismissed Jiang Jiemin from his positions as director and deputy party chief of the cabinet’s commission that runs state companies, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday, two days after officials announced an investigation i
Sept. 3, 2013
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Egyptian judges recommend dissolving Muslim Brotherhood
CAIRO (AP) ― A panel of Egyptian judges recommended Monday the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood, adding momentum to a push by authorities to ban the ousted president’s main backer and a pillar of political Islam in the region. Since the military deposed Mohammed Morsi in a July 3 coup, it has steadily intensified a crackdown on the Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest political organization. Hundreds of its members are in detention and facing prosecution, many on charges of inciting violence. Morsi
Sept. 3, 2013
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More than 2 million have fled Syria: U.N.
DAMASCUS (AFP) ― More than two million Syrians have now fled their country, the UNHCR said Tuesday, as top U.S. officials pressed a robust bid to secure Congress’ support for military strikes against the Damascus regime.The U.N. refugee agency’s grim statistics come as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned that Western military action against him risked igniting a regional war and bringing chaos across the Middle East.The UNHCR, in a statement released in Geneva, lamented that the number of Sy
Sept. 3, 2013
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U.S. drug agents plumb vast database of call records
SEATTLE (AP) ― For at least six years, federal drug and other agents have had near-immediate access to billions of phone call records dating back decades in a collaboration with AT&T that officials have taken pains to keep secret, newly released documents show. The program, previously reported by ABC News and the New York Times, is called the Hemisphere Project. It’s paid for by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and it allows investigators a
Sept. 3, 2013
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More blazes in Portugal after respite
LISBON (AFP) ― About 700 firefighters were battling blazes in northern and central Portugal on Monday, with two people arrested on suspicion of starting fires, officials said.The firefighters were being supported by five French and Croatian aircraft.“This evening we have 14 major fires under way in the north, in particular in the Porto, Viseu, Castelo Branco and Braga districts,” civil protection spokesman Carlos Guerra said.Police announced that a 40-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were ar
Sept. 3, 2013
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Mexican leader celebrates education reform victory
MEXICO CITY (AP) ― President Enrique Pena Nieto used his first state-of-the-nation address Monday to push an aggressive reform agenda that seemed to be on the ropes last week, as protesting teachers attempted to block his plan for mandatory evaluations. Pena Nieto opened the speech praising a midnight vote by the lower house of Congress to set up a competitive examination system for hiring teachers and to require them to pass regular evaluations in order to remain in the classroom. The education
Sept. 3, 2013
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Assad: Risk of regional war if West strikes Syria
France released an intelligence report on Monday alleging chemical weapons use by Syria's regime that dovetailed with similar U.S. claims, as President Bashar Assad warned that any military strike against his country would spark an uncontrollable regional war and spread “chaos and extremism.” The verbal crossfire, including a rejection of the Western allegations by longtime Syrian ally Russia, was part of frenzied efforts on both sides to court international public opinion after President Barack
Sept. 3, 2013
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Egypt to try Morsi for inciting violence
CAIRO (AP) ― Egypt’s top prosecutor referred Sunday ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to trial on charges of inciting the killing of opponents protesting outside his palace while he was in office, the state news agency said. The military ousted Morsi on July 3 after millions took to the street demanding he step down. He’s been held incommunicado since. Despite other accusations by prosecutors, Sunday’s decision is his first referral to trial. No date was announced for the trial. Morsi wil
Sept. 2, 2013
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Iranian exiles report deaths in Iraq camp
BAGHDAD (AP) ― Deadly violence erupted at a contentious Iranian exile camp inside Iraq early Sunday, leaving international observers scrambling to determine the cause of the bloodshed and the number of casualties. The dissidents alleged that more than 50 were killed and accused the Iraqi government. Baghdad said an internal dispute was to blame. And the United Nations mission to Iraq, which has been closely involved in trying to find a viable long-term solution for the dissidents, acknowledges i
Sept. 2, 2013
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Pope announces day of fasting for peace for Syria
VATICAN CITY (AP) ― Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the use of chemical weapons, but he called for a negotiated settlement of the civil war in Syria, and announced he would lead a worldwide day of fasting and prayer for peace there on Sept. 7. Francis abandoned the traditional religious theme of the weekly papal appearance to crowds in St. Peter’s Square and instead spoke entirely, and with anguish, about Syria. “My heart is deeply wounded by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dram
Sept. 2, 2013
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Antireform protesters clash with police in Mexico
MEXICO CITY (AFP) ― Police launched tear gas at protesters who threw rocks and firebombs in Mexico City on Sunday, leaving two officers injured during a demonstration against President Enrique Pena Nieto’s reform agenda.Scores of students teamed up with thousands of teachers who have led several protests in the capital in the past two weeks, challenging Pena Nieto’s shake-up of the education system.The city’s public security department said four people were detained after a group of protestors c
Sept. 2, 2013
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Merkel, election rival debate euro crisis
BERLIN (AP) ― Chancellor Angela Merkel and her center-left rival sparred over Europe’s debt crisis and how best to keep Germany’s economy strong as they faced off Sunday in a televised debate ahead of Sept. 22 elections, with Merkel’s challenger insisting that it makes no sense to apply a “deadly dose” of austerity to eurozone strugglers. Challenger Peer Steinbrueck went into the 90-minute debate ― the pair’s only direct TV encounter of the campaign ― facing a daunting poll deficit and needing a
Sept. 2, 2013