Instead of doing some last-minute shopping or wrapping gifts, families across the U.S. South spent Christmas Eve taking stock of their losses after an unusual outbreak of December tornadoes and other violent weather killed at least 14 people and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes. "Santa brought us a good one, didn't he?'' Bobby Watkins said as he and his wife took a walk amid the destruction in rural Benton County, Mississippi, where four people -- including a married couple and two neighbors

World News Dec. 25, 2015

U.S.-based Intel Corp. was named the most influential firm in the Internet of Things (IoT) segment, data showed Friday, based on how often the company is mentioned on websites and social media with related keywords.According to the data compiled by IoT Analytics, U.S.-based tech companies took the top spots in the report, with Intel followed by IBM, Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. over the third and fourth quarters of 2015.South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. came in ninth,

World News Dec. 25, 2015

Investigators returned from the  Philippines on Friday after looking into the recent shooting death  of a South Korean man, adding they have found key evidence to narrow down the suspects.A 57-year-old South Korean, identified only by his surname Cho,  was shot to death by four unidentified, armed assailants on Sunday  at his house in Batangas, some 100km south of Manila.The incident raised the number of South Koreans killed in the  Southeast Asian country to 11 this year. Police said they have

North Korea Dec. 25, 2015

A long-standing dispute sparked a shooting at a crowded North Carolina shopping mall on Christmas Eve, police said, and an off-duty officer fatally shot a man who pointed a gun in his direction.  Police said no one else was shot and there were no other reports of injuries. The shooting was not a random act but rather the result of a feud among people who knew each other _ though there was no indication it was gang-related, Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.  D

World News Dec. 25, 2015

President Park Geun-hye checked military readiness against possible North Korean provocations as she made a rare visit to a military base near the border with North Korea, an official said Thursday.Park, wearing a military jacket, commended the soldiers at the military division in Yeoncheon near the central section of the border, for their "resolute" response to North Korea's shelling attacks on Aug. 20, presidential spokesman Jeong Yeon-guk said.Combined with a land-mine attack earlier in the m

North Korea Dec. 25, 2015

As Europe grapples with its biggest migrant crisis in recent history, Hollywood celebrities are rallying to raise awareness about the issue and lashing out at calls to turn away refugees.Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon this month became the latest star to arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos, a frontline for the crisis, where she is spending the Christmas holiday helping new arrivals and writing about her experience for the Huffington Post and RYOT.org, a virtual reality news company.The 69

World News Dec. 24, 2015

Indonesian police said they have arrested two more suspected militants including a member of China's ethnic Uighur minority who was allegedly preparing to be a suicide bomber. National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Anton Charliyan says the suspects were captured in two separate places Wednesday in Bekasi, a West Java town bordering with eastern Jakarta. The arrests of Arif Hidayatullah, alias Abu Mush'ab, and Alli, the Uighur who used a fake identity card, came as security has been stepped up after

World News Dec. 24, 2015

President Park Geun-hye expressed hopes on Thursday that more people will donate, citing her email conversation with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg."I have recently exchanged an email with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about sharing and the spirit of donation," Park wrote in her Facebook post. "I hope that there will be more people in our country who are sharing and donating."Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced that they would donate 99 percent of their Faceboo

Social Affairs Dec. 24, 2015

South Korea warned Thursday Japan will face an angry backlash from neighbors and the international communist if the country rewrites its modern history with a revisionist view.A controversial history review office of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party held its first meeting on Tuesday as it reportedly seeks to review an array of modern historical events.The move is raising concerns that Japan may rewrite its modern history of World War II aggression and atrocities as the meeting will report

Politics Dec. 24, 2015

Rival parties once again failed Thursday to agree on redrawing electoral districts for next year's general elections.Ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung, main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy Chairman Moon Jae-in and the parties' floor leaders sat together over the demarcation of constituencies earlier in the day, but the meeting fell through without an outcome, according to party officials. It was their seventh negotiation held on the issue this month as the parties gear up

Politics Dec. 24, 2015