WASHINGTON ― Greece was told Saturday to urgently deliver a detailed fiscal and debt plan to official lenders as the IMF-World Bank spring meetings wound up amid escalating worries of a looming default. As Athens’ talks with creditors continued in Paris, both IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned in Washington that Greece has not provided eno...

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo fell deeper into his quagmire on Thursday as his choice of words and inconsistent explanations of graft allegations against him led the opposition to escalate calls for his resignation. Lee altered his stance on joining President Park Geun-hye’s campaign trail in 2012 and how well he knew the deceased former Keangnam Enterprises chief Sung Woan-jong. Lee has found him...

WASHINGTON ― President Barack Obama is set to remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, in a landmark step paving the way towards restoring ties frozen for five decades. Obama on Tuesday notified Congress of his “intent to rescind” Cuba’s inclusion on the blacklist, after a lengthy review launched late last year as Washington openly began a rapprochement with its Cold War foe. U.S...

South Korea’s prime minister reiterated Tuesday his denial he received illegal campaign funds from a recently-deceased businessman during a parliamentary by-election two years ago, vowing to resign if the accusation was true. But the tide appears to be turning against Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo as critics increase their attack against him, citing his record of lying about past wrongdoing. Testim...

After Sung Woan-jong ― a South Korean businessman who was under investigation for corruption ― was found dead last week in an apparent suicide, a list of politicians who supposedly received money from him has stirred up a dispute within the political circles here. The eight politicians on the list include former and incumbent chiefs of staff for President Park Geun-hye, sitting Prime Minister Le...

CHICAGO — Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign will center on boosting economic security for the middle class and expanding opportunities for working families, while casting the former senator and secretary of state as a “tenacious fighter” able to get results, two senior advisers said Saturday. They provided the first preview of the message that Clinton planned to convey when she laun...

The debate on legalizing prostitution has heated up in South Korea as the Constitutional Court began reviewing the law that criminalizes the sex trade. The court held its first public hearing Thursday. The antiprostitution law was enacted in 2004 to protect human rights, partly prompted by fire that killed 14 sex workers who were locked in a brothel in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, in 2002. Th...

LOUISVILLE ― Instead of an American flag, Republican presidential hopeful Rand Paul wears a red penny in his lapel, symbolizing the core of his philosophy: no more runaway debt and total submission to the U.S. Constitution. “We say they’ve taken all our money. We don’t have one red cent more to send them in Washington,” the conservative Kentucky senator said in 2010 shortly after a crushing poll...

President Park Geun-hye on Monday said her administration will “actively review” salvaging the Sewol ferry that sank last year, leaving over 300 people dead or missing. It is the first time the South Korean leader has commented about recovering the ill-fated ship, but a myriad of issues, including technical difficulties, significant costs and doubt remain about the daunting task of recovering th...

MOSCOW ― A year since the start of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin may not have emerged the winner in his showdown with the West but he has not lost either, analysts say. By supporting Ukrainian separatists, they say, he took a huge risk but it largely paid off as it allowed him to punish Kiev’s pro-Western authorities for seeking to turn their back on Russia and stand up to the ...

WASHINGTON ― The framework nuclear deal sealed by world powers and Iran leaves major questions: Could Iran cheat? Possibly. Would the U.S. or anyone else be able to respond in time? In theory, yes. Are they prepared to use military force? Questionable. Would a final deal settle global fears about Iran’s intentions? Almost surely, no. But the surprisingly detailed fact sheet released by the Unit...

LOS ANGELES ― California announced sweeping statewide water restrictions for the first time in history Wednesday in order to combat the region’s devastating drought, the worst since records began. Gov. Jerry Brown issued the declaration at a press conference in a parched, brown slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains that would normally be covered by deep snow. “Today, we are standing on dry grass...

LAGOS ― Muhammadu Buhari, who has claimed victory in Nigeria’s most closely fought presidential election, is not a man who is easily put off. He tried three times previously to become head of state since the return to civilian rule in 1999 ― and failed on each occasion. But the tough retired major general who overthrew elected president Shehu Shagari ― widely seen as inept and corrupt ― in a mi...

The South Korean military has decided to reorganize the Air Force’s command structure to enhance efficiency in both peacetime and wartime operations, and better incorporate new weapons systems into its missions, the Air Force said Tuesday. Under the reorganization plan, the Air Force’s Southern and Northern Combat Commands will be refurbished into the Air Combat Command and the Air Mobility & Re...

A former presidential secretary during the Lee Myung-bak administration has been placed under a widening investigation for irregularities, with fresh allegations suggesting he meddled in the designation of his daughter as a professor at his former college. Park Bum-hoon, then-aide for Lee, is suspected of forcing the Education Ministry to give favors to Chung-Ang University’s application for its...