WASHINGTON (AP) -- Scientists have come up with a possible explanation for why the rise in Earth‘s temperature paused for a bit during the 2000s, one of the hottest decades on record.The answer seems counterintuitive. It’s all that sulfur pollution in the air from China‘s massive coal-burning, according to a new study.Sulfur particles in the air deflect the sun’s rays and can temporarily cool thin

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Overweight or obese men, like their female counterparts, have a lower chance of becoming a parent, according to a comparison of sperm quality presented at a European fertility meeting Monday.In what they described as the largest study of its kind, doctors looked at sperm samples from 1,940 men and matched them to the donor‘s weight.The benchmark was the body mass index (BMI), a m

DURBAN, South Africa (Yonhap) -- Bid officials of PyeongChang, a South Korean candidate for the 2018 Winter Olympics,held a lively and spirited press conference here Monday, handling questions with aplomb with an International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote on the host fast approaching.In the final run-up to the IOC vote scheduled for Wednesday, PyeongChang kept hammering home its message of bringin

Regulator to force nonviable institutions out of marketStarting Tuesday, the government will conduct another round of regulatory examinations on the overall savings banking industry tarnished by involvement of some banks in a corruption scandal.The Financial Services Commission said Monday that it would make inquiries into 85 out of 98 savings banks for two months to normalize the debt-saddled sec

Starting next year, those who commit cruelty to animals in Korea may face a jail term of up to 1 year or a maximum fine of 10 million won ($9,400). The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Monday that a revision to the animal protection law, which entails the toughened penalties for pet abusers, is to take effect on Jan. 1, 2012. Currently, the heaviest penalty is a fine of 5

The head of SK Telecom’s union on Monday attempted suicide in what appeared to be a protest of the company’s decision to spin off its platform business.The union leader, identified only by his surname Kim, was found in the office of SK Telecom’s headquarters in downtown Seoul at around 4:00 p.m. after attempting to hang himself. Kim was rushed to a nearby hospital to receive treatment. His conditi

Four out of every 10 conglomerate heirs have been educated abroad, a local institute revealed Monday. The younger they were, the more likely they were to have been to high schools, universities and higher educational institutes overseas, said Chaebol.com, a website dedicated to researching large corporations. According to its report of 146 direct members and cousins of the owners of the 30 largest

A South Korean antipiracy unit operating off the coast of Somalia on Sunday morning repelled three ships suspected of trying to seize a Panamanian-registered chemical freight vessel, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday.The Cheonghae Unit received an emergency satellite call from the 17,000-ton Azalea belonging to South Korea’s major shipping firm STX POS at around 1 a.m., JCS officials said.The

President Lee Myung-bak on Monday rehearsed his presentation for PyeongChang’s 2018 Olympic bid to win over International Olympic Committee members in Durban, South Africa.Along with his aides and officials of the PyeongChang committee, Lee reviewed his presentation to be made on Wednesday, South Africa time, during the IOC session. It is the mountain resort town’s third bid for the Winter Olympic