Greece will probably have to restructure its debt again and this may involve bailout partners such as the International Monetary Fund, said Moritz Kraemer, head of sovereign ratings at Standard & Poor’s.There may be “down the road, I’m not predicting Thursday when, another restructuring of the outstanding debt,” he said at an event in London late Wednesday. “At that time maybe the official creditors need to come into the boat.”Speaking at the same event at the London School of Economics, Poul Th

SENDAI, Japan (Yonhap News) ― For the past 12 months, students at Tohoku Chosen, a local elementary and high school, have been taking classes taught in a cafeteria and dormitories. The school’s main five-story building vanished after an earthquake and the ensuing tsunami wiped out much of Japan’s northeast in March last year. The land where the school once stood is still barren, blanketed by snow, and there is no knowing when things will return to normal. Like many others, Tohoku Chosen is seeki

LONDON (AFP) ― In their scruffy jeans and trainers, Ross Harper and Ed Moyse look just like any other British 22-year-olds ― except for the words “Buy My Face” and “Sold” emblazoned brightly on their faces.Standing in the middle of London’s shopping mecca Oxford Circus, the two Cambridge University graduates attract more than a few curious glances from the hoards of passers-by.“How much?” a young man calls out from a gaggle of Spanish tourists, to which Harper, a former neuroscience student, rep

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― With a traditional path to the Republican nomination all but impossible, White House hopeful Newt Gingrich is cutting his schedule, shedding staff and eyeing a possible convention showdown, his campaign said Wednesday.“Our campaign is focused on winning a big choice convention this August in Tampa and is making necessary adjustments to leadership and personnel to execute our strategy,” Gingrich’s communications director Joe DeSantis told AFP.But the former House speaker hardly

Activists say army goes on shelling opposition townsDAMASCUS (AFP) ― Syrian forces on Wednesday attacked rebel bastions as United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon urged President Bashar al-Assad to “immediately” implement a U.N.-Arab League peace plan he reportedly accepted.The United States accused the Syrian leader of failing to fulfill a pledge to respect the plan.“Assad has not taken the necessary steps to implement” the peace plan crafted by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan, State Departme

Country thrust again into Europe’s debt crisis spotlightMADRID (AP) ― Investors concerned that Spain is fast becoming Europe’s riskiest economic link and could be the next bailout candidate have plenty to worry about this week. On Thursday, much of the country will shut down in a general strike against labor market reforms that make it cheaper for companies to fire and offers incentives for them to hire. The next day, new center-right Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is expected to unveil about 30 b

Wearing hooded sweatshirts similar to the one that Trayvon Martin wore on the night he was killed, many preachers and worshippers echoed calls for justice Sunday in the shooting death of the unarmed black teenager in Florida last month. This series of handout frame grabs from video, provided by

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Obama administration forged ahead on Tuesday with the first-ever limits on heat-trapping pollution from new power plants, ignoring protests from industry and from Republicans who have said the regulation will raise electricity prices and kill off coal, the dominant U.S. energy source.But the proposal also fell short of environmentalists’ hopes because it goes easier than it could have on coal-fired power ― one of the largest sources of the gases blamed for global warming.“R