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

MOSCOW (AFP) ― A century ago, all of Russia mourned Leo Tolstoy’s death at a backwater train station. But today the novelist and pacifist, who abhorred any form of government, is more respected in the West than his home country.The centennial of Tolstoy’s death, 100 years ago Saturday, seems to be passing virtually unnoticed in Russia. No specials in state channels’ primetime schedules. No retrospectives in Russia’s main state museums. Facing the moral dilemmas posed by Russia’s most famous son

LONDON (AP) ― Manchester United moved level on points with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League on Saturday when the defending champions lost 1-0 at Birmingham.While Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez continued United’s unbeaten start with a goal each in a 2-0 win over Wigan, Chelsea conceded a 17th-minute goal to Lee Bowyer to lose consecutive league matches for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 season.Arsenal threw away a two-goal lead and a chance to take sole possession of top s

Taiwanese hackers launched cyber-attacks on Asia's top taekwondo body as anger mounted on the island over the controversial disqualification of a female fighter in the Asian Games, reports said Friday.Hackers wrote "Shame on you" and "Give back the gold" on the Asian Taekwondo Union's website, amid accusations that China and South Korea were behind the decision to disqualify the Taiwanese athlete, the Central News Agency said.The hackers added an image of a hand with its middle finger raised on

Canadian model and former “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson is to appear in reality television show “Bigg Boss”, the Indian version of “Big Brother”.Anderson, 43, was set to arrive in Mumbai late Monday and enter the live studio near the city on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Colors television channel said.The actress, who appeared nude in Playboy magazine earlier this year, will join other contestants on the show including a former bandit and the Great Khali, a popular World Wrestling Entertainment

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― At least 61 people died when a four-storey building in a crowded area of New Delhi collapsed, officials said Tuesday, as rescuers hunted for more victims trapped in the rubble.Officials said the building in eastern Delhi may have been weakened by flooding brought on by some of the strongest monsoon rains in decades, which burst the banks of the nearby river Yamuna that runs through the city.Rescue workers and residents worked through the night trying to remove debris after the

Nadja Benaissa, one of Germany’s biggest pop stars, has admitted that she had sexual relationships with several men without telling them that she carries HIV virus, according to Daily News.Benaissa of the best-selling girl group No Angels, told a German court on Monday that she knowingly exposed multiple men to the HIV virus without telling them she was a carrier.Benaissa, 28, is on trial this week, accused of "grievous bodily harm and attempted aggravated assult," British newspaper The Guardian