The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the construction of a controversial naval base on southern Jeju Island is lawful, giving the military the green light on the project. The Supreme Court overturned an earlier ruling by a lower court that the initial construction plan, approved by the defense ministry in 2009, was invalid because the construction's impact on the environment hadn't been proper

Social Affairs July 5, 2012

Volkswagen AG agreed to buy the 50.1 percent stake in Porsche SE’s automotive business that it doesn’t already own for 4.46 billion euros ($5.6 billion), ending a seven-year takeover saga that divided two of Germany’s most powerful families. VW was able to proceed with the transaction after reaching an agreement with German tax authorities, it said in an emailed statement late yesterday. The cash

Mobility July 5, 2012

Chicago police said a man accused of impersonating an alderman was busted by a pastor who is familiar with the real official.Police said a man called the Rev. John Harrell of Faith Community Baptist Church and claimed to be Alderman Michael Chandler, 24th district, when asking if the pastor would buy tickets to a play being held as a political fundraiser at the Goodman Theater, the Chicago Sun-Tim

World News July 5, 2012

Libyans vote on Saturday for a constituent assembly, the first body elected since the ouster of dictator Moammar Kadhafi, tasked with steering the country through its critical transition."All fundamental questions have to be decided by this elected group of 200 people," Sami Zaptia, managing editor of Libya Herald, told AFP."It is very important. You don't write a constitution every day," he added

World News July 4, 2012

A Bloomfield Hills, Mich., woman accused of killing her grandson had to listen to his pleading 911 call in her preliminary examination, court records show.Sandra Layne, 74, has been charged with open murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The Detroit Free Press reported she was bound over for trial following three hours of testimony Monday.Layne's grandson, 17-year-old J

World News July 4, 2012

So far this year, there have been 60 shootings in Sydney due to heightened tension between motorcycle gangs, police say.The tension has led to innocent bystanders getting caught in gun violence, such as a 2-month-old baby who recently survived a drive-by shooting at a house where she was sleeping, Sky News reported.In an effort to curb gang activity and shootings, police have began raiding local h

World News July 3, 2012

CNN presenter and journalist Anderson Cooper outed himself as gay Monday, saying he "couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."The 45-year-old confirmed what for many was common knowledge in an email to a journalist for The Daily Beast online who had asked Cooper to comment on the issue of celebrities coming out."Even though my job puts me in the public eye, I have tried to m

Television July 3, 2012

A powerful member of Japan's ruling party and dozens of his followers have decided to quit the group and will likely form their own rival bloc, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.A party official says Ichiro Ozawa and about 50 of his allies submitted their resignations from the Democratic Party of Japan on Monday. That is not enough to immediately end the ruling party's majority in th

World News July 2, 2012

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan apologized to the nation Monday for pursuing a landmark military pact with Japan without making enough efforts to win people's support for the agreement with the former colonial ruler."I sincerely apologize to our people for failing to smoothly proceed with the planned signing of a military agreement with Japan," Kim told reporters, three days after abru

Foreign Affairs July 2, 2012

A woman whose baby boy lay dead for nearly a day while she chatted on Internet forums has been arrested in Japan, media and police said Friday.Yumiko Takahashi knew that 19-month-old Neo was running a high fever when she checked on him on the afternoon of June 24 last year but left him lying on his bed untended, police said.A post mortem examination revealed Neo had died around 2 pm on June 26th,

World News June 29, 2012

A U.S. military helicopter burned after making an emergency landing at a southern seaside village in South Korea on Friday, rescue authorities said.No casualties were reported.The MH-53 helicopter from the U.S. Navy made the emergency landing on a rice paddy in Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 12:30 p.m. while performing flight training, according to the southern branch of the Pohang

Social Affairs June 29, 2012