Joining a growing list of angry allies, France on Monday demanded an explanation from Washington of a report that the U.S. swept up 70 million French telephone records and text messages in its global surveillance net, even recording certain private conversations.The fallout prompted a phone call from President Barack Obama to President Francois Hollande and, the White House said, an acknowledgment by Obama that the episode raises “legitimate questions for our friends and allies” about how U.S. s

World News Oct. 22, 2013

Syria's president cast doubt Monday on the chances of holding a long-delayed international peace conference to end the country's civil war, saying the factors that would help such talks succeed do not currently exist. The United States and Russia have been trying for months to convene a conference in Geneva to negotiate a political solution to a conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people and forced some 2 million more to flee the country. The U.N. chief has set mid-November as a target fo

World News Oct. 22, 2013

A student at a Nevada school opened fire on campus just before the starting bell Monday, wounding two boys and killing a math teacher who was trying to protect children from their gun-wielding classmate.Teacher Michael Landsberry was being hailed for his actions outside Sparks Middle School, where 20 to 30 horrified students witnessed the shooting.“In my estimation, he is a hero. ... We do know he was trying to intervene,” Reno Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson said.The unidentified shooter was k

World News Oct. 22, 2013

The education ministry said Monday that it has recommended publishers of all eight government-approved Korean history textbooks revise hundreds of factual errors and imbalanced descriptions they were found to contain.The ministry has reviewed the textbooks endorsed for use at high schools around the country from the 2014 school year after one of them, published by Kyohak Publishing Co., sparked the ire of opposition lawmakers, liberal historians and civic activists for containing a conservative

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2013

South Korean stocks closed almost flat Monday as investors sat on the sidelines amid weak growth momentum on the main bourse, analysts said. The local currency traded lower against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 0.61 point, or 0.03 percent to finish at 2,053.01. Trading volume was light at 277.6 million shares worth 4.09 trillion won ($3.85 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 421 to 381."Although the Seoul bourse traded higher in the third q

Oct. 21, 2013

Rival political parties stepped up their attacks on each other Monday amid fresh claims about the state intelligence agency's alleged meddling in last year's presidential election.Last week, Rep. Kim Kwang-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) claimed that members of the defense ministry's cyber warfare command conducted an online smear campaign against then opposition presidential candidate Moon Jae-in in a bid to sway public opinion in favor of the ruling party ahead of the December

Politics Oct. 21, 2013

The daily volatility of the South Korean currency fell to the lowest in three quarters in the July-September period on eased concerns over the Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus tapering, the central bank said Monday.The average daily volatility of the local currency reached 5.3 won in the third quarter, compared with 6.6 won three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).The third-quarter data marked the lowest volatility since 2.9 won in the fourth quarter of last year.The on-day

Oct. 21, 2013

South Korean stocks traded almost flat late Monday morning due mainly to a lack of market momentum, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 0.99 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,053.39 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech shares lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.2 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix losing 1.16 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display shed 0.6 percent.Carmakers traded mixed, with No. 1 player Hyundai Motor adding 2.14 percent and its aut

Oct. 21, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service said Monday that it will launch a special probe into Shinhan Bank following claims by opposition lawmakers that the bank looked into their accounts without their consent.Shinhan would inevitably face sanctions by the financial regulator should it find evidence that the bank probed lawmakers’ backgrounds via their accounts.This marks the third investigation against Shinhan by the FSS. The bank would likely suffer tougher penalties this time such as operational su

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2013

South Korea's tax agency said Monday that it has collected about 6 trillion won ($5.7 billion) less in taxes on-year during the first eight months of this year as the slowing economic recovery undercut corporate and other revenues. In its briefing to lawmakers ahead of a parliamentary audit session, the National Tax Service (NTS) said that it had collected 129.6 trillion won in national tax during the January-August period, which is 5.9 trillion won less compared with that in the same period a y

Oct. 21, 2013

Held back by sloppy fielding and sluggish bats, the LG Twins lasted just five days in their first Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) playoff in more than a decade.The Twins, owner of the second-best record during the regular season, crashed out of their first postseason since 2002, succumbing to their Seoul rivals, the Doosan Bears, in four games of the best-of-five second round series. The 5-1 loss on Sunday was the final blow.The Bears, which finished fourth in the regular season, had battled t

Baseball Oct. 21, 2013

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as investor sentiment got a boost from rising hope that the U.S. may delay the tapering of its quantitative easing moves, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 7.64 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,060.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Blue-chip shares led the market gain, with tech giant Samsung Electronics adding 1.02 percent and the country's No. 1 portal operator NAVER advancing 5.16 percent. Oil refiner SK In

Oct. 21, 2013

Japan's trade deficit in September surged 64.1 percent from a year earlier, extending its string of shortfalls to a record 15th consecutive month.A weaker yen has been helping Japan's export picture, but the volume of shipments was down last month while the country's energy bill remained high due to imports of pricey fossil fuels. Energy imports surged after the 2011 Fukushima crisis forced the shutdown of Japan's nuclear reactors.On Monday, the finance ministry said Japan recorded a trade defic

World Business Oct. 21, 2013

Reflecting confusion in efforts to convene an international conference to end Syria's civil war, the Arab League chief announced on Sunday that talks will take place next month in Geneva, only to have the U.N. envoy flatly deny a date has been set. The bizarre diplomatic two-step between Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and the U.N. envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, at a joint news conference added to the uncertainty surrounding the proposed peace talks. A decision over whether the long-delayed n

World News Oct. 21, 2013