Some Australian construction companies based in Sydney have been accused of maltreatment of immigrant workers, labor unionists said.The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia claimed they are taking advantage of foreign workers by hiring them through illegitimate procedures while paying wages below minimum level.CFMEU estimated that of 13,000 temporary foreign workers

Industry July 26, 2011

A female Korean student died in Ghana while apparently trying to escape from potential abduction, according to Korean government on Monday. The 21-year-old victim, a student from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, was on a trip with other four classmates for a school project to research the slave trade.The team had landed on Kotoka International Airport in the capital Accra on Sunday H

Social Affairs July 26, 2011

CAPE TOWN, July 24, 2011 (AFP) - A 50-year-old South African man thought to be dead woke up in a chilly morgue on Sunday and shouted to be let out, scaring off two attendants who thought he was a ghost, local media reported."His family thought he had died," health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo told the Sapa news agency."The family called a private undertaker who took what they thought was a dead body to

Podcast July 25, 2011

BALI, Indonesia, July 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, the United States and Japan urged North Korea on Saturday to take actions to dismantle its nuclear program before the resumption of stalled multinational talks can take place.In a joint statement after a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of a key ASEAN forum, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and

Foreign Affairs July 23, 2011

TOKYO, July 23, 2011 (AFP) - A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan Saturday, but there was no danger of a tsunami, the weather agency said.The quake happened at 1:34 pm (0434 GMT) off the Pacific coast of Miyagi prefecture, around the same area as the giant March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.The depth of the quake was 40 kilometres (25 miles), it s

World News July 23, 2011

LONDON (AP) _ Police investigating the suspicious deaths of five patients at a hospital in northern England said Friday that they had charged a 27-year-old nurse in the case.Police and prosecutors say that Rebecca Leighton endangered the lives of patients at the Stepping Hill Hospital in the town of Stockport, near Manchester, by damaging saline bags, saline ampoules, and unspecified medical produ

World News July 23, 2011

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, July 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's gross national income (GNI) is forecast to grow to $30,000 per capita by 2014 before increasing by an additional $10,000 in the four years that follow, the finance minister said on Saturday."Our country's gross national income may exceed $30,000 in the first quarter of 2014 and $40,000 in 2018," Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said in a for

July 23, 2011

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, July 23, 2011 (AFP) - The United States said Saturday it was "encouraged" by unexpected and rare talks between North and South Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told regional foreign ministers at an Asian security forum in Indonesia that the onus remained squarely on the North to prove its sincerity before six-party talks could

World News July 23, 2011

BALI, Indonesia, July 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan held a brief meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Pak Ui-chun, on the sidelines of a key ASEAN forum here, an official said Saturday.The informal meeting between Kim and Pak came a day after the chief nuclear envoys from the two Koreas met for the first time since 2008 and agreed to make joint efforts to resume

North Korea July 23, 2011