Ward catches 2 of Roethlisberger’s 5 TD passes PITTSBURGH (AP) ― Ben Roethlisberger has a pretty good explanation for how a guy with one good foot can throw for five touchdowns as he did in Pittsburgh’s 38-17 thumping of Tennessee on Sunday. “I told ya, I was just faking it,” Roethlisberger said. “I’m a wimp.” Not exactly. Limping slightly on his sprained left foot, Roethlisberger put togethe...

BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for a career-high 136 yards and two touchdowns and the New England Patriots beat the New York Jets 30-21 with a vastly improved defense Sunday. Tom Brady had another strong game, completing 24 of 33 passes for 321 yards and one touchdown as the Patriots scored at least 30 points for the 13th straight regular-season game. Meanwhile, New York’s Mark Sanchez had another t...

The Financial Services Commission said Monday that it is considering allowing businesses to reject credit cards for small payments. The potential upper limit would be 10,000 won ($8.55) similar to the United States and Canada, which impose a $10 cap, the nation’s top financial regulator said. “This is a time to consider abolishing or easing the ban on the refusal of micro credit card payments,”...

SHANGHAI (AFP) ― U.S. auto giant General Motors said Monday its sales in China jumped 15.3 percent in September from a year earlier to 240,244 units, despite government moves to phase out incentives for buyers. In the first nine months of the year, GM and its joint ventures sold a record 1.89 million vehicles in the world’s biggest auto market, up 6.6 percent year on year, the company said in a ...

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan will offer 10,000 foreigners free airfare to visit the country next year, in an attempt to boost the tourism industry, which has been hit by the ongoing nuclear disaster, a report said Monday. The Japan Tourism Agency plans to ask would-be travelers to submit online applications for the free flights, detailing which areas of the country they would like to visit, the Yomiuri S...

SHANGHAI (AFP) ― U.S. auto giant General Motors said Monday its sales in China jumped 15.3 percent in September from a year earlier to 240,244 units, despite government moves to phase out incentives for buyers. In the first nine months of the year, GM and its joint ventures sold a record 1.89 million vehicles in the world’s biggest auto market, up 6.6 percent year on year, the company said in a ...

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan will offer 10,000 foreigners free airfare to visit the country next year, in an attempt to boost the tourism industry, which has been hit by the ongoing nuclear disaster, a report said Monday. The Japan Tourism Agency plans to ask would-be travelers to submit online applications for the free flights, detailing which areas of the country they would like to visit, the Yomiuri S...

SANTIAGO (AP) ― Chilean student groups that have been protesting more than five months to demand the government improve education have refused the president’s request to resume negotiations and say they won’t go back to class. A confederation of 36 student groups at Chile’s 25 state universities made the decision during a meeting Sunday. President Sebastian Pinera had urged the groups to restart...

TAIPEI (AP) ― Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou is urging Beijing to pursue democracy and respect his island’s self-governance as both sides marked the centennial of a revolution that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. Ma said Monday that China should “move bravely” toward freedom and democracy. Monday is the anniversary of the Oct. 10, 1911, uprising led by revolutionary leader Sun Ya...

BEIJING (AP) ― Twelve Chinese crew members on two boats plying the Mekong River were killed by suspected drug traffickers who hijacked their ships to smuggle speed pills, news reports said Monday. The China Daily newspaper said that the boats were hijacked last Wednesday and that the bodies were found near Chiang Rai in northern Thailand on Friday and Saturday. Most of the victims had been bound...

BRUSSELS (AP) ― An international group of envoys will contact the Israelis and the Palestinians shortly to try to restart Mideast peace talks on hold since 2008. Envoys from the Quartet ― the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia ― met Sunday in Brussels to hash out a strategy as international pressure to reach a peace deal mounts. The Palestinians and Israelis have a...

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the demand for tourism could surge almost threefold if riverside areas across the nation are developed into tourism and leisure sites. In a survey of 1,000 adult Koreans, nationwide apart from Jeju, 94 percent of the respondents said they would visit riverside areas when developed into leisure and tourism spots. As of 2010, the population aged ov...

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Newly crowned 2011 Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, the youngest racer ever to win two straight driving titles, can’t afford to sit too long on his laurels — his next race is less than a week away. But, he says, that doesn’t mean he can’t spare some time to savor his achievement. As his Red Bull racing team packed up and headed off for South Korea, Vettel took a day...