French doctors went on strike Tuesday in protest at an upcoming health bill, prompting fears that hospitals already bracing for a busy Christmas period will be seriously overrun.   Three unions have called on general practitioners to close shop in protest at certain aspects of the bill, which notably will allow pharmacists to vaccinate patients -- an act that is currently almost exclusively reserved for doctors.   The bill also wants to set up a system whereby patients will no longer have to be

World News Dec. 23, 2014

The Algerian army said on Tuesday that it has killed the head of the jihadist Jund al-Khilafa group that decapitated a Frenchman in September.   The body of Abdelmalek Gouri, who claimed responsibility for the beheading of Frenchman Herve Gourdel, was identified after an operation in the town of Isser "that allowed us to eliminate three terrorists," the army said.   The confirmation of Gouri's death came after the Nahar private television network said soldiers had killed him and two other milita

World News Dec. 23, 2014

Sri Lanka's president, under pressure from his main opponent in upcoming elections, on Tuesday promised a judicial inquiry into allegations that his troops killed thousands of Tamil civilians at the end of the civil war.   But President Mahinda Rajapakse reiterated that he would not cooperate with a UN-mandated investigation into the government's 2009 crushing of the Tamil Tiger rebellion.   "If any rights have been violated (during the war), justice will be ensured through a transparent domesti

World News Dec. 23, 2014

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday oversaw the successful test-launch of Russia's newest heavy-class Angara rocket, a rare piece of good news in a week dominated by the economic crisis.   The president oversaw by video link the launch of the Angara-A5 from Plesetsk in northern Russia at 0557 GMT, saying the new rocket would allow the country better protection.   "Indeed, for our space industry and I suppose for the whole of Russia this is a major, very important event," Putin said from the Krem

World News Dec. 23, 2014

Wang Jianlin rose from local bureaucrat to China's richest man by transforming a debt-laden state-owned housebuilder into the sprawling Wanda Group, and the flotation of one of its subsidiaries Tuesday may propel him back up a rich list now dominated by Internet moguls.   Wang has penchants for karaoke and collecting, and has an impressive selection of fine art, property projects in top markets around the world, and an ever-expanding portfolio of companies including cinema chain AMC and yachtbui

World News Dec. 23, 2014

Rival parties agreed Tuesday to conduct a 100-day parliamentary investigation into alleged irregularities in overseas resources development projects carried out under the administration of former President Lee Myung-bak.   Earlier this month, the ruling Saenuri Party and the No. 1 opposition party, New Politics Alliance for Democracy, agreed to launch an investigation into allegations the Saenuri-affiliated Lee government in office from 2008-2013 spent tens of billions of dollars on various natu

Politics Dec. 23, 2014

A trilateral committee of labor, management and government representatives agreed Tuesday on the basic principles of their future discussions on reforming the labor market and to finish discussing three top topics, including easing discrimination against irregular workers, by March.   The Economic and Social Development Commission adopted a basic agreement on labor market reform at the end of a main session held at the main government building in Seoul.   The three parties shared the need to ref

Dec. 23, 2014

China called on the United States and North Korea on Tuesday to talk to each other about the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. that Washington has blamed on Pyongyang, while sidestepping questions about whether Beijing would cooperate with the U.S. over the North's alleged cyber attack.    China's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, also strongly denied media reports that China was involved in the Internet outage in North Korea, slamming such reports as "not trustworthy" and "i

North Korea Dec. 23, 2014

Prosecutors said Tuesday that they will seek an arrest warrant for the former vice president of Korean Air at the center of a controversial incident dubbed "nut rage."   Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, resigned earlier this month after a national uproar over her conduct aboard a Seoul-bound Korean Air flight from New York's JFK Airport.   She ordered the cabin crew chief of the plane that was already on the taxiway to get off because she was displeased about

Social Affairs Dec. 23, 2014

US Senator Mary Landrieu, one of the last standing elected Deep South Democrats, lost her bid Saturday for re-election in Louisiana, further clinching Republicans' dominance in the Senate following mid-term elections last month.   Her loss to Republican rival Bill Cassidy in the runoff vote consolidates a conservative majority in the southern state, in a region where political winds have shifted strongly in the Republicans' favor in recent years.    The vote -- the last in the Senate contest and

World News Dec. 7, 2014

Mourners heard a rallying cry for justice Saturday at the New York funeral of an unarmed black man shot dead by police as nationwide protests against similar killings continued for a fourth night.   Akai Gurley, 28, father of a two-year-old daughter, was shot dead when a police officer opened fire in a dimly lit staircase at a Brooklyn apartment building where he was walking with his girlfriend late on November 20.   Friends and relatives filed past Gurley's open gray casket to pay their respect

World News Dec. 7, 2014

South Korea's Park Geun-hye administration is willing to provide North Korea with appropriate incentives if needed for the reunion of separated families, a senior government official said Sunday.   The official stressed it is a "very important issue associated with the government's responsibility." The majority of people with families on the other side of the heavily-fortified border due to the 1950-53 Korean War are now in their 80s or 90s.   "If we fail to resolve the problem, it means the gov

North Korea Dec. 7, 2014