South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in New York on Sunday on the first stop of a visit to the United States that will culminate in a summit with President Barack Obama expected focus on how to deal with North Korea.The White House summit, scheduled for Tuesday, could also take up contentious bilateral issues as well, such as Seoul's demand for the right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, and set the tone for how the alliance between the two countries will fare for years to come.Park first

Foreign Affairs May 6, 2013

Malaysia's long-governing coalition won national elections Sunday to extend its 56 years of unbroken rule, fending off the strongest opposition it has ever faced but exposing vulnerabilities in the process.The Election Commission reported that Prime Minister Najib Razak's National Front coalition captured 127 of Malaysia's 222 parliamentary seats to win a majority Sunday. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's three-party alliance seized 77 seats, and other races were too close to call.It was the Nat

World News May 6, 2013

U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in April, and hiring was much stronger in the previous two months than the government first estimated. The job increases helped reduce the unemployment rate from 7.6 percent to a four-year low of 7.5 percent.The report Friday from the Labor Department was a reassuring sign that the U.S. job market is improving despite higher taxes and government spending cuts that took effect this year.The only sectors of the economy that cut jobs last month were construction an

World Business May 3, 2013

A candidate running for Pakistan's national assembly at historic polls next week was shot dead on Friday along with his three-year-old son in Karachi, police said.It is the first time that a national assembly candidate has been killed in Pakistan's election campaign. Campaigning has been marred by Taliban threats and attacks, which have killed 62 people since April 11, according to an AFP tally.Saddiq Zaman Khattak was a candidate for the Awami National Party (ANP), the leading secular party in

World News May 3, 2013

Gunmen killed Pakistan's lead prosecutor investigating the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto as he was driving to court Friday, throwing a case that also involves the country's former ruler Pervez Musharraf into disarray.The killing in the capital, Islamabad, comes at a sensitive time in Pakistan, as the country prepares for nationwide elections on May 11 amid a spate of Taliban attacks on candidates. In the southern city of Karachi, gunmen on motorcycles killed an anti-Talib

World News May 3, 2013

More than 130 people have been killed in the latest outbreak of tribal fighting in western Sudan's Darfur region, a tribal leader said on Friday."Fighting was going on until last night and from our side we have 37 dead," said the leader of the Beni Halba tribe, who claimed that more than 100 members of the rival Gimir group were also killed.A Gimir official could not immediately be reached.The Beni Halba leader, who declined to be named, said a land dispute caused the fighting in Edd al-Fursan,

World News May 3, 2013

The Spanish football league is investigating a game between topflight teams Levante and Deportivo La Coruna for possible match-fixing.League spokesman Juan Carlos Santamaria confirmed Spanish media reports to The Associated Press on Friday that the league was examining Deportivo's 4-0 win at Levante on April 13.Following the loss, Levante forward Jose Barkero apparently accused some of his teammates of a lack of effort in the match. He later publicly retracted his accusations.“I only want to mak

Soccer May 3, 2013

Europe will take longer to recover from its economic crisis as it tackles a worse-than-expected recession in the eurozone and unemployment at record levels, the European Union warned Friday. In its spring economic forecast, the EU said that gross domestic product in the 17 member countries that use the euro will shrink by 0.4 percent this year, better than the 0.6 percent contraction in 2012 but 0.1 percentage points worse than the EU had forecast back in February.The report also had bad news fo

World Business May 3, 2013

The following is a chronology of major events leading up to Seoul pulling the last seven South Korean workers from the Gaeseong complex on May 3.2013March 27: North Korea severs the military hotline with the South, which is used to facilitate cross-border movement of personnel and cargo.March 30: North Korea's General Bureau for the Special Zone Development Guidance threatens to shut down the industrial park.April 3: North Korea bans South Korean workers from entering the park but permits people

North Korea May 3, 2013

South Korean stocks closed 0.44 percent higher Friday, as five-year low jobless data in the United States cheered investor sentiment over an improving economy, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 8.57 points to 1,965.78. Trading volume was light at 306.8 million shares worth 4.13 trillion won (US$3.75 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 499 to 299. "U.S. labor data give us a sense of where we ar

May 3, 2013

The leaders of South Korea and the U.S. will adopt a joint declaration to upgrade the 60-year-old military alliance of the two countries during their summit on Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. President Park Geun-hye will embark on a six-day tour of the U.S. on Sunday. The first summit between Park and U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to focus on North Korea’s security threat and the expanded role of the bilateral alliance. “The two countries are preparing a joint declaration on the ne

Politics May 3, 2013