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

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

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