The majority of stationary and other items used by children circulated in the local market tested by the National Institute of Environmental Research contain high traces of heavy metals.According to the NIER data submitted to Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the Democratic United Party, 123 of the 124 items tested last year contained heavy metals that can be transferred to the body including lead, nickel and cadmium.In addition to the heavy metals, 14 items were shown to contain above-regulation levels of

More than 200 students from multicultural families dropped out of school from March 2010 to February 2011 due to difficulties with adapting, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.The number is slightly less than the 223 dropouts from the 2009-10 school year according to the ministry. The students with international backgrounds in elementary, middle and high school totaled 31,788 in 2010-11, up more than 22 percent from the previous years.Of them 215 have quit or taken a

Myanmar President Thein Sein will make a state visit to South Korea next week for talks with President Lee Myung-bak about economic cooperation and regional issues, the presidential office said Thursday.The Myanmar president’s trip, set for Oct. 8-10, follows Lee’s landmark visit in May to the Southeast Asian nation that has been emerging from international isolation with sweeping democratic reforms since Thein Sein took power last year after decades of military rule.Lee was the first South Kore

A lower court sentenced a Canadian national to five years in prison Thursday for killing his girlfriend in 2009. The 39-year-old man confessed earlier this year to drowning his girlfriend, surnamed Kim, then 21, in 2009 while they were taking a walk along the bank of the Han River in Yongsan. He had initially told police that Kim drowned while trying to get a tennis ball from the river. The police then closed the case. The man turned himself in in January saying to police that he had killed her

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half its coral cover in the past 27 years due to storms, predatory starfish and bleaching linked to climate change, a study found Tuesday.The research by scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences and the University of Wollongong warned that coral cover on the heritage-listed reef ― the world’s largest ― could halve again by 2022 if trends continued.Intense tropical cyclones ― 34 in total since 1985 ― were responsi

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, famed for seeking “happiness” for its citizens, is aiming to become the first nation in the world to turn its home-grown food and farmers 100 percent organic.The tiny Buddhist-majority nation wedged between China and India has an unusual and some say enviable approach to economic development, centred on protecting the environment and focusing on mental well-being.Its development model measuring “Gross National Happiness” instead of Gross Domesti

PARIS (AFP) ― A hearty fillet of fish, already a rare treat because of over-trawled oceans, will become even more infrequent in the future when global warming starts to reduce fish size, scientists said on Sunday.Researchers looked at computer models to see how warmer, and thus less oxygenated, seas affected more than 600 species of fish.Compared to 2000, the maximum attainable body weight of these fish declined by between 14 and 24 percent by 2050.Fish inhabiting the Indian Ocean were the most

The Green Climate Fund is a new international financial institution dedicated to the fight against climate change. The idea behind it is simple: Rich countries put money into the fund ― they have pledged to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 ― which will then be directed to poor countries to support their climate adaptation and mitigation plans. The GCF officially launched at the 2011 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, and is currently governed by a board of 24 members and an

CHANGWON (Yonhap News) -- An elder brother of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun is expected to be cleared of suspicions that he is related to tens of billions of won (tens of millions of U.S. dollars) in a businessman's bank account, prosecution sources said Thursday.In May, prosecutors said they had discovered several tens of billions of won in the bank account owned by Roh Geon-pyeong's clo

Two former hedge fund managers were convicted Monday of insider trading charges, including allegations that one of them had made as much as $50 million on a single tip about Dell Inc. earnings in 2008.Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson were convicted in federal court in Manhattan after a five-week trial that included testimony from two analysts for the men. The jury reached its verdict after two days of deliberations.Newman is a former portfolio manager with Stamford, Connecticut-based Diamondback

Korean universities have gained ground in a recent global ranking due largely to increased funding, In the latest edition of the Times Higher Education World University rankings published Thursday (Korea time), Pohang University of Science and Technology rose to 50th place from 53rd last year. Seoul National University soared to 59th from 124th and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technolog

The government announced on Wednesday it will strengthen the monitoring of international schools for Koreans, following a string of admission scams involving several conglomerate and elite families.This month, local authorities will conduct on-the-spot checks on all 51 foreign schools focusing on the admission process and students’ nationality, according to the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology.Under the current law, only children with a parent with foreign citizenship or who have