Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Last week was a good one for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. After a key ally held onto the leadership of his party on Monday, Sarkozy himself was all but cleared in a political funding scandal three days later. Sarkozy was called to testify on accusations of receiving money from Liliane Bettencourt, France’s richest woman and a principal shareh...

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to strengthen the country’s military and revise its peace constitution to introduce collective self-defense, further spurring Japan’s rightward political shift. The leader of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday announced its campaign platform “to recover Japan and rebuild its economy.” The conservative party is expected ...

Kang Shin-ho Kang Shin-ho, chairman of the nation’s top pharmaceutical company Dong-A Pharmaceutical, is being hit with a barrage of criticism over scandals that have hit him and his company. The most recent charge against the company is that it sought to create slush funds worth tens of billions won by purchasing gift cards ― a type of prepaid card ― and reselling them for cash. The prosecuti...

Kim Kwang-jun, a senior prosecutor at Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, was arrested Monday on suspicion of corruption in a case that is tainting the reputation of the prosecution. The 51-year-old is accused of a long list of wrongdoings, mostly bribery and influence-peddling. Among them is that he may have received nearly 900 million won ($826,000) from Cho Hee-pal, the mastermind of Korea’s bigg...

Gaza’s Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (AP-Yonhap News) Gaza’s ruling Islamist movement Hamas laid out its conditions for a cease-fire with Israel over the weekend, but Monday failed to see an end to the deadliest hostilities since 2009 as violence continued into its sixth day. The militant organization, defined by the U.S. and EU as a terrorist group, has demanded an end to the blockade of...

Peng Liyuan Since China’s Hu Jintao handed over power Thursday to his vice president Xi Jinping, the world may be hearing a new song in the communist country’s austere halls of power ― not from Xi, but from his wife. Peng Liyuan, endearingly nicknamed the “Peony Fairy,” rose to prominence as the sweet soprano at the forefront of the People’s Liberation Army with nationalistic folk songs like “P...

Tension is mounting in front of the iconic Deoksu Palace in central Seoul as rag-tag protesters vow to defy a government order to end their months-long decampment or face eviction by police. The Jung-gu district office delivered a notice Wednesday that it would ask police to break up their protest tents and impose fines unless they take them down voluntarily within 15 days. The roadside street ...

The Florida socialite and honorary consul for South Korea whose emails led to the resignation of CIA chief Gen. David Petraeus has found herself at the center of another scandal involving a leading military man. The email investigation has uncovered emails between Kelley and Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. military officer in Afghanistan, which raised suspicions of another affair. Kelley called f...

An exile Tibetan carries a portrait of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama during a candlelit vigil Dharmsala, India, Sunday. (AP-Yonhap News) As the eyes of the world focused on the once-in-a-decade change of power in Beijing last week, a story of bitter protest against Chinese rule played out in the country to considerably less attention. Nine Tibetans set themselves on fire in the sp...

The entrance to the BBC headquarters in London. (AP-Yonhap News) The BBC, one of Britain’s most enduring and well-respected institutions, is in crisis. In a case of controversy following controversy, an episode of the broadcaster’s investigative program “Newsnight” on Nov. 2 wrongly implicated Alistair McAlpine, a Thatcher-era treasury minister of the Conservative Party, in allegations of child ...

The illustrious career of one of the most widely respected military leaders in modern U.S. history came crashing down over the weekend as David Petraeus abruptly offered his resignation as CIA chief, citing “poor judgment” in engaging in an extramarital affair. The 60-year-old former army commander had been the trusty ground man for two presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, owing to his m...

Puerto Ricans voted to become a U.S. state Tuesday, but as pundits pick apart the results of the referendum, the actual implications of the vote become more unclear. The inhabitants of the U.S. territory are already U.S. citizens, but statehood would give the island’s 4 million people the right to vote in the presidential election and representation in the Senate and House of Representatives ― s...

Four chiefs of major retail giants were ordered to attend a parliamentary hearing Tuesday. But none of them showed up, citing overseas business trips. Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin was visiting Indonesia for business talks with government officials there, while Chung Ji-sun, Hyundai Department Store Group chairman, was in China to discuss establishing a joint venture home shopping channel, ...

Shinwolseong nuclear power plant in Gyeongju. (Yonhap News) Distrust with the government is deepening following the shutdown of two nuclear reactors on Monday for using 230 substandard components. Although the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the move was a preventive measure to exchange all unsuitable parts by the end of this year, people who remember the nuclear disaster in neighboring Japa...

As Chinese President Hu Jintao prepares to leave office, his likely successor Xi Jinping faces pressure to bring change that never came under Hu. During his time in office, Hu has seen China grow in stature, particularly in terms of its economic and military profile. He has appeared keen to increase China’s involvement in international issues, notably by hosting the six-party talks on denuclear...