Satellite images show that Iran's Arak heavy-water plan is operational, raising fears that it is trying to produce plutonium for a nuclear bomb, Britain's Daily Telegraph claimed on Tuesday.The newspaper published images on its website which appear to show steam rising from forced air coolers, suggesting heavy-water production at the plant, which has been closed to international inspectors for 18 months.Heavy water is required in plutonium-producing reactors and that raises alarms that Tehran is

World News Feb. 27, 2013

A trio of French rights and consumer protection organizations said Tuesday they had filed a legal complaint against South Korea's Samsung Electronics over working conditions at its plants in China.The groups, Peuples Solidaires, Sherpa and Indecosa-CGT, accused Samsung of deceiving consumers by violating its own promises on ethical working conditions and using child labor.“While Samsung claims to respect the rights of the workers making its products by imposing codes of conduct including strict

Industry Feb. 27, 2013

Hyundai Motor Co. agreed to settle a group of lawsuits by U.S. customers who said they were misled into buying the South Korean carmakers’ vehicles because it overstated their fuel economy. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a filing today in federal court in Los Angeles that Hyundai agreed in principle on terms of a settlement. The actual amount Hyundai would pay wasn’t disclosed. Kia Motors Corp. (000270), which was also sued for misstating its cars’ miles-per-gallon, is evaluating whether to

Industry Feb. 27, 2013

Two pontiffs, each wearing white and each called “pope” living a few yards (meters) apart, with the same archbishop serving both.The Vatican's announcement Tuesday that Pope Benedict XVI will be known as “emeritus pope” in his retirement, called “Your Holiness” as an honorific and continue to wear the white cassock associated with the papacy fueled renewed questions about potential conflicts arising from the peculiar reality soon to face the Catholic Church: having one reigning and one retired p

World News Feb. 27, 2013

A deeply divided Senate voted to confirm Chuck Hagel as the next U.S. defense secretary, handing President Barack Obama's choice the job just days before billions of dollars in budget cuts hit the military. Hagel was expected to be sworn in Wednesday.The vote was 58-41 Tuesday, with four Republicans joining the Democrats after an unprecedented fight that touched on Israel, Iran and nuclear weapons.Republicans had opposed their onetime Republican Senate colleague, casting him as unqualified, host

World News Feb. 27, 2013

A lawyer for the family of a 9-year-old Massachusetts rapper who appears in sexually suggestive videos is criticizing authorities' decision to investigate whether the boy is the victim of possible child abuse or neglect.The boy who performs as “Lil Poopy,” is a thriving, well-adjusted fourth-grader with a good home life, good grades and musical talent, attorney Joseph Krowski Jr. said Monday of client Luie Rivera Jr., who is of Puerto Rican descent.“This is just what I would call a racially-ting

People Feb. 26, 2013

The National Assembly on Tuesday confirmed former veteran prosecutor Chung Hong-won as prime minister in a first step to form the Cabinet of new President Park Geun-hye.Chung, 68, was named as Park's first prime minister earlier this month, after serving as chief of her ruling Saenuri Party's candidate nomination committee ahead of last April's general elections. Before that, he served as a public prosecutor for nearly 30 years and worked as a lawyer after retiring from public office.Chung's con

Politics Feb. 26, 2013

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected artillery units conducting live fire exercises to check if they could "fight an actual war," the communist country's media reported Tuesday.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report monitored in Seoul said Kim ordered the exercises and visited a unit to guide the artillerymen. The news wire service did not give details on when the exercises were conducted or which unit Kim guided, but the drills may have taken place on Monday when South Korean Preside

North Korea Feb. 26, 2013

Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co., a South Korean builder, filed for a debt workout program on Tuesday as part of its efforts to get back on its feet again amid a cash crunch, a company official said.The move came days after the builder said its capital had been wiped out due to massive losses for the second consecutive year in 2012 amid the country's protracted housing market slump."We sent an official document to Woori Bank, the main creditor bank," a Ssangyong E&C official said, as he

Industry Feb. 26, 2013

Swedish furniture giant Ikea became entangled in Europe's widening meat scandal Monday, forced to withdraw meatballs from stores across Europe amid suspicions that they contained horse meat.Stores in the U.S. and Canada were not affected, Ikea said.The company reacted after authorities in the Czech Republic said they had detected horse DNA in tests of 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) packs of frozen meatballs that were labeled as beef and pork. The Czech State Veterinary Administration said it tested two

World Business Feb. 26, 2013

The proportion of spending on food items by low-income earners in South Korea rose to the highest level in eight years in 2012, data showed Tuesday, suggesting that price hikes toughened the livelihoods of the economically weak people.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the so-called Engel's coefficient for households in the lowest 20 percent income bracket rose to 20.79 percent last year from 20.7 percent tallied a year earlier, marking the highest figure since 2004 when it was 20.8.The

Feb. 26, 2013