(Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday demanded that South Korea and the U.S. cancel their annual joint military drills scheduled to begin in late February and continue through April, warning that the drills would destroy inter-Korean relations.South Korea and U.S. forces plan to conduct command post exercise Key Resolve and joint field training exercise Foal Eagle between late February and April to enhance joint combat readiness and deter threats from the North.The Committee for the Peaceful Reun

(AP) -- Michelle Obama turns 50 later this week, and she isn't ruling out future use of plastic surgery or Botox.The first lady tells People magazine in an interview hitting newsstands Friday, her birthday, that women should be free to do whatever they need to do to feel good.Mrs. Obama adds that she doesn't imagine resorting to plastic surgery or Botox but that she's also learned to "never say never."The first lady has never missed a health checkup, including a mammogram or Pap smear, and has h

Tencent Holdings Ltd., Asia's largest Internet company by market value, will spend HK$1.5 billion ($193 million) to buy a stake in China South City Holdings Ltd. Tencent will pay HK$2.2 for each of the 680.3 million new shares, or about 9.9 percent, of China South City, the Shenzhen-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. The offer is 1.4 percent higher than China South City’s closing price on Jan. 13. The share was halted for trading yesterday. The Internet company will use China Sou

(AP) -- Pope Francis is urging people to speak out against persecution of Christians, whom he likened to the Church's first martyrs.His denunciation of discrimination suffered by Christians came a day after three Christmas day bombings targeted Christians in Iraq.Francis didn't cite any countries in his remarks to tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter's Square as the church Thursday recalled its first martyr, St. Stephen. Francis said unfortunately more Christians are suffering discrimination and v

(Yonhap) -- The prosecution on Thursday demanded nine years in prison and 150 billion won (US$141 million) in fines for Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn for embezzlement.In a retrial held three months after the top court sent the case back to the appeals court, prosecutors asked for the same sentence as in the previous trials, noting the seriousness of his crime.The Supreme Court in September reversed a lower court's ruling on Kim on embezzlement charges and sent the case back to an appellat

모바일 시장 관계자들에 따르면 국내 최대 모바일 메신저 카카오 톡이 영국 진출을 고려 중이라고 한다.“영국에서 가장 큰 비즈니스 중 하나인 프리미어 리그에서 있었던 카카오 톡의 광고를 봤을 때, 카카오 톡이 영국 시장 진출을 본격적으로 하려는 것으로 보인다,” 라고 한 시장 관계자는 말했다.카카오 톡이 영국을 포함한 해외 시장 진출을 진지하게 고려 중이라는 것은 카카오 톡 이석우 공동대표의 최근 발언에서도 찾아 볼 수 있다. “각 지역 마다 특성이 다른데, 한국은 문자 메시지 형태의 서비스가 발달되어 있고, 중국은 한자를 타이핑하기가 어렵기 때문에 음성 서비스, 미국은 영상 서비스가 다른 지역 보다 발달되어 있다,”고 이석우 공동대표는 밝히며, 글로벌 시장에서 지역적 특성에 맞는 서비스를 내어 놓으려는 의지를 비추었다.이에 영국을 포함 유럽 시장에는 어떠한 서비스를 내어 놓을 지 궁금증이 증폭되고 있는 상황이다. 카카오 톡의 영국 진출에 대해 이민아 하이투자증권 연구원은 “영국 시장

(AFP) -- The European Union fined six finance groups a record 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) on Wednesday for rigging the Euribor and Japanese yen Tibor interest rates.German Deutsche Bank, involved in rigging both rates, was fined a total of 725 million euros, and French Societe Generale was fined 446 million euros for manipulating the European Euribor rate.British bank RBS, already mired in controversy, was fined 391 million euros for involvement in cartels which rigged both rates.The Europe

(AFP) -- Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, the new friend of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, will this month make a third visit to the reclusive state to train its basketball team, a source involved in the trip said Wednesday.The heavily tattooed former Chicago Bulls star is organising friendship exhibition games between North Korea and ex-NBA players in January."We're going back, most likely on December 18-21. Dennis is going to train the North Korean team and get them ready for the big match in

(AP) -- The U.N. nuclear agency says a truck carrying an extremely dangerous radioactive substance has been stolen in Mexico.The International Atomic Energy Agency says the truck was carrying cobalt-60, used for radiotherapy treatment to combat cancer. An IAEA statement Wednesday said the truck was stolen Monday while taking the material to a radioactive waste storage center from the northern city of Tijuana.It says the heist occurred in Tepojaco, a town near Mexico City, and describes the load

   (Yonhap) -- A senior Chinese official has pledged to step up cooperation with North Korea in the fields of economy and culture as the two nations marked the 60th anniversary of signing a bilateral pact on the two sectors, Beijing's commerce ministry said Saturday.   At a ceremony on Friday celebrating the anniversary, China's Vice Commerce Minister Gao Yan said Beijing will "continue to deepen bilateral cooperation in economic and cultural fields" and "constantly strengthen the China-North Ko

   (AP) -- A South Korean man has been found dead at a jointly-run factory park in North Korea.   South Korea's Unification Ministry told reporters Saturday that the 55-year old worker from a South Korean company that manufactures leather products and mobile phone accessories was found dead earlier that day.   Officials say the cause of death is unknown but there are no signs of external injuries and the man didn't suffer from chronic illness.   The Kaesong complex just north of the border is th

  (AP) -- A police helicopter crashed into the roof of a crowded Glasgow pub, causing "numerous" casualties and leaving people trapped in the unstable building, officials said early Saturday.   Authorities said they had made contact with people still inside The Clutha pub in the city center. They said some people had been taken to hospitals but that it was too soon to give a number of injured. Witnesses spoke of people streaming out of the building covered in blood, with gashes and other injurie

   (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Saturday that a U.S. citizen detained for more than a month has apologized for "hostile acts" against the state and alleged crimes he committed during the 1950-53 Korean War.   The North's state media released video and photos showing Merrill Newman, a 85-year-old veteran of the Korean War from Palo Alto in northern California, reading his alleged apology.   "During the Korean War, I have been guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against DPRK government," New