Egypt's highest court joined a judicial rebellion against President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday by declaring an open-ended strike on the day it was supposed to rule on the legitimacy of two key assemblies controlled by allies of the Islamist leader.The strike by the Supreme Constitutional Court and opposition plans to march on the presidential palace on Tuesday take the country's latest political crisis to a level not seen in the nearly two years of turmoil since Hosni Mubarak's ouster in a popular

World News Dec. 3, 2012

Lee Choon-sang, one of Saenuri Party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye’s closest aides since the 1990s, died in a car accident while relocating to a rally site in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province on Sunday, a party official said.The vehicle carrying Lee and five other campaign members slid off the road and crashed into a utility pole while trying to avoid a collision with a car in front, said party spokesman Rep. Lee Sang-il.Lee died in the crash, while the others were injured and taken to a nearb

Politics Dec. 2, 2012

At least seven people were feared missing after parts of a tunnel collapsed Sunday on a highway west of Tokyo, trapping vehicles as smoke from a fire inside initially prevented rescuers from approaching.Video footage from cameras inside the tunnel, after the fire was extinguished, showed firefighters picking their way through cement roof panels that collapsed onto vehicles inside the Sasago Tunnel, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) outside the city. However, local media reported rescuers had suspen

World News Dec. 2, 2012

Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, the two main presidential candidates, rolled out plans to reform the prosecution Sunday, seeking to appeal to the public on how to deal with the scandal hit prosecutors’ office. In a change of stance, the ruling Saenuri Party’s Park’s plans included the dissolution of the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. In addition, Park said that she would introduce measures to increase the transparency of human resource management and appointm

Politics Dec. 2, 2012

The amount of mortgages in South Korea at risk of turning sour reached 25.6 trillion won ($236.3million) in September, with the majority being owed to non-banking firms that charge higher interest rates, the financial regulator said Sunday.The figure represents 230,000 out of a total of 5.35 million mortgage borrowers here, accounting for 4.8 percent of the total home-backed loans extended by local financial institutions, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). "The percentage itse

Dec. 2, 2012

South Korea' Lee Dong-hwan shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday on PGA West's Stadium Course to take a two-stroke lead after the fourth round of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament.Lee had a 19-under 269 total in the six-round event. The final top 25 and ties will receive 2013 PGA Tour cards and the next 50 and ties will earn Web.com Tour cards.Edward Loar, Meen Whee Kim, Vaughn Taylor and Richard H. Lee were tied for second after their rounds on the Stadium Course. Richard H. Lee had a 64, Taylor shot

Golf Dec. 2, 2012

Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi called Saturday for a referendum in two weeks on a contentious draft constitution, setting a date for another milestone in the country’s transition to democracy. Widespread disputes over the charter and Morsi’s recent seizure of near absolute power have marred the process and thrown the country into turmoil.  As has been the case in nearly two years since Hosni Mubarak was ousted, what should have been a cause for national celebration turned into dueling protest

World News Dec. 2, 2012

Enrique Pena Nieto took the oath of office as Mexico's new president Saturday vowing to restore peace and security and take on the vested interests that have hindered economic prosperity.As several hundred protesters threw fire bombs at police and smashed plate glass windows, Pena Nieto marked the return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI,  with a 13-point plan heavy on old-party populist handouts but with reforms designed to boost the economy and modernize the education and justic

World News Dec. 2, 2012

The U.S. government emphasized Saturday that North Korea's rocket launch would be a "highly provocative" act and warned of "next steps" if Pyongyang presses ahead with it."A North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.The response came hours after the communist nation's announcement of a plan to launch a rocket carrying what it claims to be a "working satellite

North Korea Dec. 2, 2012

The Obama administration sought to direct Israel and the Palestinians back toward direct peace talks, even as the two sides and much of the world seemed to be ignoring the U.S. attempts at leadership on a Mideast peace strategy.Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met senior Israeli and Palestinian officials Friday, with each side locked in a pattern of actions that the United States had expressly warned against: the Palestinians winning U.N. recognition of their claim to a state on Thursda

World News Dec. 1, 2012