ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Ethiopians have started voting in national and regional elections, the country's first since the death in 2012 of longtime leader Meles Zenawi.More than 38 million voters are eligible to cast ballots in this East African nation of about 90 million people. Hailemariam Desalegn, a former university professor turned politician, has been leading the country since the death of Meles, who built the ruling coalition into a powerful political organization while opposition g

International May 24, 2015

Seoul said Sunday it is willing to discuss the issue of its sanctions on North Korea if Pyongyang agrees to resume long-stalled inter-Korean talks.Seoul slapped a set of sanctions on North Korea on May 24, 2010, some two months after the North torpedoed the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, killing 46 sailors. The so-called May 24th Measure bans all inter-Korean exchanges, except for an inter-Korean industrial complex and humanitarian aid.Pyongyang has asked Seoul to lift the sanctions before

North Korea May 24, 2015

BEIJING (AP) -- The death toll in China's latest round of flooding has risen to at least 52, including two schoolchildren aboard a bus carrying more than twice its authorized passenger load that plunged into a pond, authorities said. At least six other people are missing in floods that have ravaged mountain districts of six provinces and autonomous regions in central and southeastern China. More than a quarter-million people have been moved to temporary shelters, and major damage has been inflic

International May 24, 2015

South Korea plans to push for financial deregulation to make it easier for people to transfer money across borders without going through banks, the government said Sunday.The move aims to allow securities firms, insurers and most importantly FinTech companies to handle transfers that can help lower fees and benefit ordinary consumers, the finance ministry said. The expansion of money transfer services, which are currently restricted to banks, is also expected to help scale back the often complic

May 24, 2015

North Korea on Sunday repeated its demand for an inter-Korean probe into the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010, which the South believes was the North's doing.In March 2010, North Korea torpedoed the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors, according to South Korean authorities.After an investigation assisted by international experts, the South announced the communist nation was responsible for the torpedo attack just south of their high-tension border i

North Korea May 24, 2015

Uncertainties surrounding North Korea and the government's blanket sanctions have weighed down stock prices of local firms operating in the communist country, a market researcher here said Sunday.FnGuide claimed long-running tension between the two Koreas has caused sharp fluctuations in share prices, making stocks of many businesses with production lines in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border town of the same name worth less now than five years earlier.Five years ago, Seoul ann

North Korea May 24, 2015

Foreign investment in South Korean bonds continued to increase in April, with their holdings hovering over the 100 trillion (US$92 billion) won mark for five months running, data showed Sunday.Foreign holdings of bonds listed on the local bourse stood at 102.7 trillion won as of the end of April, up 100 billion won from the previous month, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service and the related industry.The amount of won-denominated bonds held by foreign investors had been on

Industry May 24, 2015

Despite the overall slump in private consumption, South Korea's golfware market is expected to post solid growth this year as more younger people enjoy the sport, industry sources predicted Sunday. According to the Korea Leisure Industry Institute and golf-related clothing makers, the country's golfware market will likely grow 7.14 percent on-year to 3 trillion won (US$2.75 billion) in 2015.The expected increase is mainly due to people in their 20s and 30s enjoying golf thanks to greater accessi

Industry May 24, 2015

North Korea defended its possession of nuclear weapons Sunday, saying it is "a means to protect peace and security in the region, not an object of contention."Earlier this week, Pyongyang claimed it has developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on a missile, further escalating tensions with Seoul."The North's nuclear weapons can never be an object of accusations as it is a means to protect the dignity and sovereignty of the nation," an unnamed spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Re

North Korea May 24, 2015

RIYADH, (AFP) -- Saudi Arabia on Saturday confirmed the suicide bomber who killed 21 worshippers at a Shiite mosque had links with the Islamic State group, in what the interior ministry called an attempt to promote sectarian strife.It was the deadliest attack in years to strike the Sunni-dominated kingdom, and marked the first time the jihadist IS group officially claimed an attack in Saudi Arabia."His name was Salih bin Abdulrahman Salih al-Ghishaami, a Saudi national,"  the interior ministry s

International May 24, 2015

North Korea's defense chief who South Korea believes was purged last month was not present during one of leader Kim Jong-un's routine field inspections, the North's state media suggested Sunday.Earlier this month, South Korea's intelligence agency said Hyon Yong-chol, the chief of North Korea's People's Armed Forces, was executed with an anti-aircraft gun in April.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim Jong-un inspected the command of the Large Combined Unit 264 in North Hamkyong Provinc

North Korea May 24, 2015

The number of people applying for a personal bailout program declined nearly 10 percent in the first quarter of 2015 from a year earlier, court data showed Sunday.A total of 25,775 people applied for a personal bailout in the January-March period, down 9.6 percent during the same period a year earlier, according to the data.The dip is seen as indicating that a spike in people requesting for arbitration to get more leeway to pay back their debts from 2010 through 2014 may be on the wane.In 2010,

Social Affairs May 24, 2015

South Korean boy band Beast will hold a solo concert in Hong Kong next month, the group's management agency said Tuesday.The concert, "Beautiful Show in Hong Kong" will take place at Hong Kong Asia World-Expo Arena on May 30, Cube Entertainment said.During the event, which will be the group's first-ever solo concert in Hong Kong, the group will perform all of its hit songs. "We'll make them one of Asia's top K-pop artists by gradually broadening their activities in China," a Cube official said.D

Performance April 28, 2015