Two bombs exploded on Sunday in Egypt's Mediterranean city of Alexandria, one outside a popular supermarket chain and another near a police station, killing one person and wounding at least 9, security officials said.The blasts are the latest in a bombing campaign blamed on Islamic militants who are targeting foreign and local economic and financial establishments. The campaign seems designed to undermine confidence in Egypt ahead of a major, three-day economic conference scheduled to open Frida

World News March 8, 2015

Around half the estimated 700 Britons who have gone to fight with Islamic State jihadists in Syria have returned home, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported. The weekly broadsheet's figures, in a story about a leaked draft of the Home Office interior ministry's new counter-extremism strategy, go further than previous estimates, of around 500 individuals leaving and 250 returning.Around 320 "dangerous" jihadists have come back to Britain, the newspaper said.The new counter-extremism plan involv

World News March 8, 2015

Two men were charged on Sunday with the murder of Russian opposition activist Boris Nemtsov as the five suspects in the case appeared in court to determine whether they will be officially placed in detention.Two men of Chechen origin, Zaur Dadayev and Anzor Gubashev, were charged with "the murder of Boris Nemtsov and three others are still suspects," Anna Fadeyeva, spokeswoman for the court in central Moscow, told the RIA Novosti news agency.The number of suspects in the case on Sunday grew from

World News March 8, 2015

Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said Saturday that Beijing will "accelerate" negotiations this year with South Korea and Japan aimed at forging a three-way free trade agreement. Speaking at an annual press conference, Gao also reiterated that South Korea and China will spare no effort to formally sign a bilateral free trade agreement with South Korea. "Based on the conclusion and signing of the China-Korea FTA this year, we will also move forward and accelerate China-Japan-Korea FTA negoti

Foreign Affairs March 7, 2015

The South Korean stock market is likely to continue its upward move next week as investor sentiment is boosted by a stimulus measure in the eurozone and continued buying by foreign investors, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,012.94 points on Friday, marking the highest level in five months and a 1.2 percent rise from a week ago, as the European Central Bank's upgrade in its growth estimate for the eurozone economy and a bond-purchasing program set

March 7, 2015

The US economy pumped out a strong 295,000 net new jobs in February despite some severe weather disruptions and mounting layoffs in the oil industry, the Labor Department reported Friday.The better-than-expected jobs number sent the unemployment rate down to 5.5 percent, from 5.7 percent previously and the lowest level since May 2008.Hiring was strong in restaurants, health care, and administrative services, and steady in construction and retail trade.The oil and gas industry, just beginning to

World News March 7, 2015

President Park Geun-hye met with hundreds of South Korean troops in the United Arab Emirates on Friday to boost their morale on the third and last day of her visit to the wealthy Gulf state."I am overwhelmed to see our troops in the UAE," Park, wearing a Navy jacket, said in a meeting with about 200 soldiers aboard the Dae Jo Yeong, a 4,400-ton South Korean destroyer, anchored at Zayed Port in the heart of the UAE capital.Park -- the first commander-in-chief to visit a South Korean warship deplo

Defense March 7, 2015

A 55-year-old South Korean activist was taken into custody Friday on charges of attempting to murder the top U.S. diplomat in Seoul.Kim Ki-jong also faces charges of violence against a foreign envoy and business obstruction in the shocking attack on U.S.Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert the previous day.Wielding a 25-centimeter fruit knife, Kim slashed the ambassador five times at a performance hall in downtown Seoul where the envoy was to give a speech. The wounds weren't life-threatening,

Social Affairs March 7, 2015

Samsung Electronics Co. is about to find out just how costly its four-year patent fight with Apple Inc. has been. Each side spent hundreds of millions of dollars in legal bills to answer these fundamental questions: What’s the value of a single feature in a smartphone or tablet? And is it worth more if the inventor has a reputation for being cool? That’s the crux of arguments to be made Wednesday when the top U.S. patent court in Washington hears an appeal in one of two remaining cases in the “s

Industry March 4, 2015

North Korea's hope to win recognition as a nuclear state will never be realized as Pyongyang is the most "blatant" case of nuclear proliferation, a ranking Seoul diplomat said Wednesday.The remarks by South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul came as North Korea seeks to advance its nuclear capability amid the long-stalled multilateral denuclearization talks."The international community will never grant any status (of a nuclear-weapon state) whatsoever to the country known for the most blat

North Korea March 4, 2015