BEIJING, May 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il departed from Beijing on Thursday, the seventh day of his secretive trip, after holding talks Wednesday with Chinese President Hu Jintao on expanding bilateral economic and political relations.Kim's special train left Beijing Station at around 2:19 p.m.(local time) and headed north apparently towards China's northeastern region bordering

North Korea May 26, 2011

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A New Zealand truck driver said he blew up like a balloon when he fell onto the fitting of a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock and forced air into his body at 100 pounds a square inch.Steven McCormack was standing on his truck's foot plate Saturday when he slipped and fell, breaking a compressed air hose off an air reservoir that powered the truck's brakes

World News May 26, 2011

JOPLIN, Missouri (AP) - Rescuers refused to be deterred from their efforts to find survivors beneath Joplin's jagged piles of tornado rubble, even as the death toll rose Wednesday to 125.No new survivors had been pulled from the city's wrecked neighborhoods, but determined crews carried on with the search, checking some areas for a fourth time since Sunday's disaster. They planned to do a fifth sw

World News May 26, 2011

SEOUL, (Yonhap) -- The U.S. military in South Korea will use ground-penetrating radar devices next week for tests of soil on one of its bases in the South where large amounts of the toxic chemical Agent Orange were said to have been illegally buried in the 1970s, the chief investigator in the claims said Thursday.South Korea and the U.S. launched a joint probe last week following the allegations b

Social Affairs May 26, 2011

SEOUL, (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il may visit the site of a joint industrial park with China on his way back from the latest trip to the neighboring nation, sources said Monday, a move that could underscore his commitment to economic cooperation with the ally.The 69-year-old Kim has been traveling by train through the Changchun, Jilin and Tumen regions of China's northeastern region

North Korea May 23, 2011

Death toll may rise to 100CHICAGO, (AFP) - A tornado killed 24 people Sunday in the Missouri town of Joplin, local media reported, less than a month after twisterscarved a swathe of destruction through the US southeast.The Springfield News-Leader newspaper reported that Ryan Nicholls of the Springfield-Greene County office of emergency management confirmed that 24 people were killed.Joplin, locate

World News May 23, 2011

SEOUL, (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Environment Ministry has launched an investigation into the area where the U.S. military allegedly buried leftover Agent Orange, a defoliant widely used during the Vietnam War, ministry officials said Friday.The ministry said it has sent a group of its officials and environment experts from the ministry's research institutions to Chilgok, some 300 kilometers southe

Social Affairs May 20, 2011

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- The following is the full text of the G-20 Speakers' Consultation Joint Communique released after the three-day meeting of the world's parliamentary leaders ended in Seoul Friday.1. We, the speakers of the G20 Parliaments, have gathered in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from May 18 to 20, 2011 under the theme of "Development and Growth for Common Prosperity," in the recognitio

Politics May 20, 2011

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2011 (AFP) - A young woman who insisted on noisily chatting on her cell phone throughout a marathon 15-hour train ride was forcibly removed by police following numerous passenger complaints.The woman was traveling on Amtrak's Coast Starlight, which runs between Los Angeles and Seattle, Washington, and was speaking loudly enough to annoy surrounding passengers, said Amtrak spoke

May 20, 2011

BAKERSFIELD, California (AP) - The revelation that Arnold Schwarzenegger has an out-of-wedlock child with a former employee turned into a tabloid frenzy as scores of reporters and photographers swarmed a quiet suburban cul-de-sac in the middle of California farm country amid unconfirmed reports it was the home of the child's mother.The owner of the house, identified in property records as Mildred

World News May 19, 2011

SANTIAGO, (AFP) - A 10-year-old Bolivian boy who hid on a truck in an effort to visit his mother who had just been released from prison ended up in Chile after an unexpected 500-kilometer (300-mile) trek through the Andes mountains, officials said.The boy, identified as Franklin Vilca, ended up Saturday in the Chilean city of Iquique, some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) north of Santiago, after a

Social Affairs May 13, 2011