Most Popular
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Yoon vetoes bill for special probe into young Marine's death
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Dog days are over? Popular dog trainer embroiled in workplace bullying dispute
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[H.eco Forum] H.eco Forum calls for transition to clean, carbon-free energy
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[Exclusive] LACMA admits it needs further research on donated Korean paintings
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AI Seoul Summit adopts declaration on safe, innovative, inclusive AI
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Samsung replaces semiconductor chief amid heightened AI race
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Russia likely offering N. Korea technology aid to expand threats to US, others: Pentagon official
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[Up close in Yeouido] Trump hinting at US troop removal in South Korea ‘election-time talk’
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[Bridge to Africa] Africa-Korea partnership: Why it matters for future
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[Herald Interview] Korean adoptees embark on journeys to find roots
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ECB’s Draghi: Must learn to do without downplays
STRASBOURG (AFP) ― European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Monday downplayed the importance of ratings agencies after Standard & Poor’s mass downgrade of eurozone countries, saying markets had priced in the action.“I think what we should do is to learn either to do without them or with them but to a much more limited way than we do today,” said Draghi, in his capacity as head of the European Systemic Risk Board.“To a great extent, markets anticipated these ratings changes and priced their as
World BusinessJan. 17, 2012
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French downgrade puts onus on Germany: analysts
BRUSSELS (AP) ― One of the defining images of Europe’s two-year-old debt crisis is that of the French and German leaders, side by side on a podium presenting their latest strategy for the continent.But the underlying message of this image ― former foes presenting a united front as the 17 countries that use the euro face their biggest crisis since World War II ― may now be under threat.Standard & Poor’s downgrade last Friday of France’s creditworthiness to “AA+” leaves Germany as the only large e
World BusinessJan. 17, 2012
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Asia awaits lunar year ‘dragon baby’ boom
SINGAPORE (AFP) -- A black maternity dress accentuates the football-size bulge in Cassandra Cheong’s abdomen, proudly proclaiming her status as an imminent mother of a “dragon baby.”Cheong, 26, has been carrying her daughter for 38 weeks and is due to give birth after Jan. 23, the start of the Year of the Dragon which comes every 12 years in the Chinese almanac and traditionally triggers a baby boom in Asia.“Of course I am happy,” a smiling Cheong told AFP after emerging from her gynecologist’s
World NewsJan. 17, 2012
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Nigeria fuel strike ends with soldiers in streets
LAGOS (AP) ― Labor unions ended a crippling nationwide strike in Nigeria after the country’s president partially restored subsidies that keep gasoline prices low, though it took soldiers deployed in the streets to stop demonstrations in Africa’s most populous nation.Union leaders claimed a victory on Monday for labor, saying this would allow its leaders to guide the country’s policy on fuel subsidies in the future. But the newly agreed price of about $2.27 a gallon is still more expensive than t
World NewsJan. 17, 2012
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Kazakh ruling party’s win tempered by criticism
ASTANA (AP) ― Weekend elections have determined that Kazakhstan’s parliament is no longer a one-party chamber, but international observers say the vote failed to meet democratic standards.Authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbayev had called the snap election in November, so Kazakhstan could proceed further along the path of democracy, he said.According to preliminary results announced Monday, Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan party won 80.7 percent of the vote, with two other parties achieving slightly m
World NewsJan. 17, 2012
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Environmental fears mount on Italian cruise wreck
ROME (AP) ― Italy’s cruise liner tragedy turned into an environmental crisis Monday, as rough seas battering the stricken mega-ship raised fears that fuel might leak into pristine waters off Tuscany that are part of a protected sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.The ship’s Italian operator accused the jailed captain of causing the wreck that left at least six dead and 29 missing, saying he made an “unapproved, unauthorized maneuver” to divert the vessel from its programmed course.Earli
World NewsJan. 17, 2012
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Rev. Martin Luther King remembered
WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama and his family are marking Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a volunteer service project at a local school.The Obamas joined other volunteers Monday morning at the Browne Education Campus in the District of Columbia.After greeting volunteers, the president and his family helped build bookshelves in the school’s library.This is the third year in a row the Obamas have participated in a service project on King’s holiday.Washington is home to the Martin Luther
World NewsJan. 17, 2012
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Republicans assail Romney in debate
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (AP) ― Mitt Romney’s Republican rivals attacked his record as a venture capitalist Monday night in the first of two debates before a pivotal weekend primary in South Carolina, where a Romney victory could seal his lock on the Republican nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in the November general election.The president ― weighed down by a struggling American economy ― is seen as vulnerable in his quest for a second White House term. Relentlessly high unempl
World NewsJan. 17, 2012
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‘ My husband gave his life for me ’: Italy ship survivor
Night view on Jan. 16 of the cruise liner Costa Concordia aground in front of the harbour of Isola del Giglio after hitting underwater rocks on Jan. 13. (AFP-Yonhap News)TOULOUSE, France (AFP) - The widow of a Frenchman who died on the Costa Concordia luxury liner gave a chilling account Monday of h
PodcastJan. 17, 2012
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Ireland's former richest person declared bankrupt
DUBLIN (AP) _ A famed entrepreneur who was once rated Ireland's richest person was declared bankrupt Monday as a bank pursues him for debts exceeding (euro) 2.1 billion ($2.7 billion).Lawyers for tycoon Sean Quinn withdrew his opposition to a Republic of Ireland bankruptcy order sought by the former
World NewsJan. 17, 2012
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Feisty Sarkozy shrugs off French credit downgrade
MADRID (AP) _ French President Nicolas Sarkozy has bluntly declared that a harsh downgrade by Standard & Poor's of France's formerly top-rung debt rating ``changes nothing'' for the eurozone's No. 2 economy. Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, speaks during a news conference with Mariano Rajoy
World BusinessJan. 17, 2012
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S&P downgrades eurozone bailout fund to AA+
BRUSSELS (AP) _ Rating agency Standard & Poor's said Monday it has downgraded the creditworthiness of the eurozone's rescue fund by one notch to AA+, putting the fund's ability to raise cheap bailout money at risk.The downgrade follows ratings cuts for AAA-rated France and Austria, whose financial g
World BusinessJan. 17, 2012
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European retailers rise on glimmers of stabilization
European consumer-discretionary companies such as Marks & Spencer Group Plc are outperforming consumer-staple businesses including Nestle SA, indicating investors’ forecasts for the region’s economy were too pessimistic. Investors have pushed shares of the discretionary group higher in recent weeks as concerns about another prolonged recession have moderated, according to Robert Griffiths, a London-based pan-European equity strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. These stocks historicall
World BusinessJan. 16, 2012
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Japan’s machinery orders jump 14.8%
Japan’s machinery orders rebounded in November, signaling that companies are willing to invest even as the yen remains strong and the global economy slows. Bookings, an indicator of future capital spending, rose 15 percent in November from a month earlier, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo Monday. The median estimate of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 5.1 percent increase. Weak overseas demand and gains in the yen have cut profits at Japanese exporters from Nippon Steel Corp. t
World BusinessJan. 16, 2012
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Iran warns Gulf Arabs on oil supply
Raising new concerns, Iran warns Gulf Arab producers to not ramp up productionCAIRO (AP) ― Iran warned Gulf Arab oil producers against boosting production to offset any potential drop in Tehran’s crude exports in the event of an embargo affecting its oil sales, the latest salvo in the dispute between the West and the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. The comments by Iran’s OPEC governor, published Sunday, came as Saudi Arabia’s oil minister was quoted the same day denying that his count
World BusinessJan. 16, 2012
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Russian space probe crashes
MOSCOW (AP) ― A Russian space probe designed to boost the nation’s pride on a bold mission to a moon of Mars has come down in flames, showering fragments into the south Pacific west of Chile’s coast, officials said.Pieces from the Phobos-Ground, which had become stuck in Earth’s orbit, landed in water Sunday 1,250 kilometers west of Wellington Island in Chile’s south, the Russian military Air and Space Defense Forces said in a statement carried by the country’s news agencies.The military space t
World NewsJan. 16, 2012
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Huntsman to quit U.S. presidential race
WASHINGTON (AP) ― Jon Huntsman, the former ambassador to China who tried to avoid partisan attacks during a presidential campaign that never connected with Republican primary voters, will withdraw Monday from the race for the nomination, campaign officials told the Associated Press on Sunday.Huntsman will endorse front-runner Mitt Romney at an event in South Carolina, where the next primary will be held, the officials said. Huntsman believes Romney is the best candidate to beat President Barack
World NewsJan. 16, 2012
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Cruise captain blasted as more bodies are found
GIGLIO, Italy (AP) ― Maritime authorities, passengers and mounting evidence pointed Sunday toward the captain of a cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan coast, amid accusations that he abandoned ship before everyone was safely evacuated and was showing off when he steered the vessel far too close to shore.Divers searching the murky depths of the partially submerged Costa Concordia found the bodies of two elderly men still in their life jackets, bringing the confirmed death to
World NewsJan. 16, 2012
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Chinese basketball star Yao Ming enters politics
SHANGHAI (AFP) ― Not content with owning a basketball team, studying business and making wine, China’s former NBA superstar Yao Ming has now become the youngest ― and tallest ― legislative advisor in Shanghai.The 31-year-old was formally accepted as a member of an advisory body to Shanghai’s legislature at the weekend ― a position that entitles him to make proposals for possible new laws ― the official China Daily reported.A photograph printed by the newspaper shows the 2.29-meter Yao towering a
World NewsJan. 16, 2012
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‘Hillary’s lawyer’ proud of Korea
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― Working as the chief legal adviser of the U.S. State Department, Harold Hongju Koh calls Secretary of State Hillary Clinton his “client,” rather than the boss.Koh, a prominent Korean-American expert on international law, starts his working day by meeting with Clinton. “I am the legal adviser of the U.S. Department of State, which means that I am a lawyer for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and I do the international law work for the U.S. Department of State. I super
World NewsJan. 16, 2012