S. Korean quarantine officials find dead duck infected with bird flu

Police continued their search on Sunday for a man suspected of stealing 530 million won (US$472,760) in cash from a armored van in this southeastern city on New Year's Eve.   The suspect, thought to be in his 20s or 30s, is still at large after robbing the cash-carrying van that was parked on a college campus on Friday afternoon in Gumi, 261 kilometers south of Seoul.At the time of the theft, the

A business arm of South Korea's largest Buddhist sect said Sunday it has expanded its Web site on temple stay programs to support Chinese, Japanese and three other foreign languages as well as English.   The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, affiliated with the Jogye Order, said it has retooled the site (http://eng.templestay.com) so that information on programs is also available in German, Frenc

North Korea appears willing to push for humanitarian aid from South Korea by calling for cross-border dialogue in its New Year's message, despite tension that soared when the North attacked a South Korean island last year, the government  said Saturday.In its analysis of a joint press editorial from Pyongyang, the Unification Ministry in Seoul also warned that the North will continue to create a r

Two sailors were killed and 15 remain missing after a North Korean-registered cargo ship sank in the Yellow Sea off China, according to a news report Saturday.The North Korean ship "Kang Bong" sank on Friday morning amid strong gales off Lianyungang Port in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.Three sailors had been rescued, and rescuers recovered the bodies

The government confirmed two additional foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks on Saturday, despite nationwide quarantine efforts to contain the spread of the highly contagious animal disease.The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said cattle at farms in North Gyeongsang Province in the country's southeastern region and Gangwon Province on the east coast tested positive for FMD.All 9

Twelve ruling and opposition lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make it legal for South Korean taxpayers to pay for the expected massive cost of an eventual reunification with North Korea, a ruling party lawmaker said Saturday.While reunification of the two Koreas is still a distant goal, it was the first time that lawmakers proposed such a bill to the National Assembly that would require

North Korea called Saturday for improvement in its relations with South Korea and a "full-scale offensive" to revive its moribund economy in its New Year message."Confrontation between north and south should be defused as early as possible," the North said in the joint editorial of its three leading newspapers, Rodong Sinmun, Joson Inmingun and Chongnyon Jonwi, adding nothing is "more vital" than

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― The theme of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to India was “friends not rivals,” but a border dispute remains a source of tension and, analysts warn, potential conflict between the Asian giants.The joint communiqu that concluded Wen’s recent visit barely mentioned the long-standing border issue, as both sides sought to highlight areas of agreement with an ambitious plan to double trade to 100 billion dollars by 2015.The only reference was a vague pledge to try and “maintain p

ROME (AFP) ― The embarrassing collapse of buildings at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii has reignited debate in Italy over conservation, amid warnings that budget cuts could trigger fresh degradation of key sites.“Italian cultural heritage is at risk of falling apart,” said Pier Giovanni Guzzo, the former head of the archaeological site of Pompeii.Pompeii, which was entombed by the massive eruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius volcano in AD 79, is one of the most visited sites in the world, rec

LONDON (AFP) - WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange was arrested in London Tuesday on suspicion of rape after surrendering to a Swedish arrest warrant, setting up a possible extradition fight that could drag on for months.Assange, 39, was detained after attending a London police station by appointment at 0930 GMT and is due to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates Court later in the day, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement."Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Extradition Unit h

LONDON (AFP) ― WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was Monday arranging to meet with British police, his lawyer said, as the net tightened around the man behind the release of a hoard of secret U.S. diplomatic cables.Swedish authorities want to quiz the elusive 39-year-old Australian ― whose website is in the process of releasing tens of thousands of U.S. cables ― on suspicion of crimes including rape.Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, said British police had telephoned him to say they have received

PHNOM PENH (AFP) ― Grieving families in Cambodia were due to pay their last respects Wednesday to relatives among the nearly 380 victims killed in a massive stampede at a water festival in the capital.The annual three-day celebration ended in tragedy Monday, with survivors recalling scenes of fear and panic as crowds surged on an overcrowded bridge, crushing and trampling people underfoot.Relatives were left with a harrowing search through hospitals and makeshift morgues in the capital Phnom Pen