North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid respects to his grandfather and founder of the communist country on Tuesday marking his 102nd birthday, the North's state media said.Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the body of Kim Il-sung, along with his son and former leader Kim Jong-un, lies in state, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.The founding father died in 1994, and his birthday is one of the most important holidays in North Korea.In his visit to the palace, the yo

North Korea April 15, 2014

North Korean human rights abuses should be formally discussed at the six-party talks, even though the talks focus mainly on the communist nation's nuclear program, the head of a U.N. investigation team said Monday.Michael Kirby, chief of the Commission of Inquiry, stressed that the North Korean human rights issue should be addressed in every dialogue with Pyongyang.He pointed out, however, it is still uncertain when the six-party talks will resume. The talks were last held in December 2008, join

North Korea April 15, 2014

South Korea handed over to North Korea the body of a man found dead off South Korea's southern coast where a Mongolian cargo ship carrying North Korean sailors sank earlier this month, an official said Monday.The repatriation took place at the border village of Panmunjom inside a military buffer zone that separates the two Koreas, according to the government official.The move came three days after North Korea confirmed the man's identity. On Friday, South Korea asked North Korea to help identify

North Korea April 14, 2014

An elderly ethnic Korean in New York has filed a multi-million-dollar suit against McDonald's for an alleged racist attack by one of its workers, his lawyer said Sunday.The 62-year-old man residing in the U.S. city surnamed Kim sued the head and New York branch offices of McDonald's and several officials seeking $10 million in compensation after he allegedly experienced verbal and physical attacks by a McDonald's manager in Flushing, Queens, according to the law firm Kim & Bae.In the afternoon o

Social Affairs April 14, 2014

The former head of television-based retailer Lotte Homeshopping Co. was called in by prosecutors Monday to face questioning over suspicions of receiving kickbacks from suppliers.Shin Heon, who headed the retailer from 2008 to 2012, entered the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul around 9 a.m. to undergo questioning as a suspect in the corruption case.Shin, 60, now serves as chief executive of the country's largest department store chain, Lotte Shopping.The summons comes

Industry April 14, 2014

North Korea warned Monday that it will force South Korea to pay a dear price for its criticism of the North's dignity, the latest in a series of verbal threats against the South.The rival Koreas agreed in February to halt cross-border slander during their first high-level talks in seven years.Still, the North has since claimed South Korea hurled mud at the North's leadership and its social system with the communist country citing, among other things, anti-Pyongyang leaflets.For years, North Kore

North Korea April 14, 2014

Popular approval for French President Francois Hollande has hit a new low of 18 percent, far below the 58 percent for his new Prime Minister Manuel Valls, an opinion poll showed Sunday.The least popular French president for decades,  Hollande's poll rating fell five points, dipping below 20 percent for the first time since coming to power in 2012.In contrast Valls, who took office late last month, becomes the most popular French premier at the start of his tenure, according to the monthly findin

World News April 13, 2014

The world needs to triple the energy it gets from renewables, nuclear reactors and power plants that use emissions-capture technology to avoid dangerous levels of global warming, United Nations scientists said. Investments needed to keep climate change within safe limits would shave a fraction of a percent off annual global growth, the UN said today in the third part of its most comprehensive study on warming. A delay in stemming rising greenhouse gases will cut chances to limit the global tempe

April 13, 2014

A large forest fire raging in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso has killed at least four people and destroyed 500 homes, officials said Sunday. Thousands of people have been evacuated, including more than 200 female inmates at a prison.Firefighters were having difficulty combating the blaze because of the topography of the city, which is surrounded by dozens of steep hills where most people live.“This is the worst disaster I have seen,” regional governor Ricardo Bravo said. “Now we fear that t

World News April 13, 2014

U.S. Federal safety investigators say the driver of a Fedex tractor-trailer that struck a bus carrying high school students didn't appear to brake before a fiery collision that left 10 dead.National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosekind said Saturday that the truck left no tire marks as it careened across a median and slammed into the bus taking the students to a college tour in Northern California.Investigators also interviewed a witness who said the truck was already on fire before

World News April 13, 2014

Ukrainian special forces exchanged gunfire with a pro-Russia militia in an eastern city Sunday, killing one security officer and wounding five others, the interior minister said. It was the first reported gunbattle in east Ukraine, where armed pro-Russia men have seized a number of law enforcement buildings in recent days.Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post that a Security Service officer was killed in Slovyansk, where the police station and local Security Service office were seized a day earli

World News April 13, 2014