KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- An airstrike by U.S.-led forces mistakenly killed four policemen and two civilians in eastern Afghanistan, an Afghan official said Thursday.The civilians were two brothers who were in a car that was being searched by the police at a checkpoint when the strike occurred in the Deh Yak district of Ghazni province, according to district chief Fazel Ahmad Toolwak. He said NATO troops were fighting Taliban militants about 10 kilometers (six miles) away, but those killed in t

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AFP) -- Iran wants its right to enrich uranium recognised when the Islamic republic sits down for talks on its disputed nuclear programme with world powers in the Kazakh city Almaty, Iran's chief negotiator said on Thursday."We think that they can open up tomorrow's (Friday's) talks with one phrase -- and that is to accept Iran's right, particularly its right to enrich," chief negotiator Saeed Jalili said in an address in Almaty.

BEIJING (AFP) -- A man has died in China's business capital of Shanghai of a new strain of bird flu, state media said Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths from the H7N9 virus to four.The 48-year-old poultry worker, from the eastern province of Jiangsu, was the eleventh person known to have been infected with H7N9 since the first human cases were reported earlier this year, according to China's CCTV.He was the third person to die in the commercial hub, while a 38-year-old chef died in th

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russia on Thursday strongly condemned North Korea's actions in the intensifying standoff with South Korea and the United States, saying Pyongyang was showing a "categorically unacceptable" contempt of UN resolutions."For Russia, Pyongyang's neglect of UN resolutions (on nuclear non-proliferation) is categorically unacceptable," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.His comments were Russia's sharpest criticism of Pyongyang in the current crisis. Until no

North Korea's vow to restart its mothballed nuclear facilities raises fears about assembly lines churning out fuel for a fearsome arsenal of nuclear missiles. But it may actually be a sign that Pyongyang needs a lot more bomb fuel to back up its nuclear threats.Despite the bluster, even if Pyongyang started work today on its reactor, it could be years before it completes the laborious process of creating more weaponized fuel. North Korea's announcement, experts say, is also likely an effort to b

Hackers apparently broke into at least two of North Korea's government-run online sites Thursday, as tensions rose on the Korean Peninsula.The North's Uriminzokkiri Twitter and Flickr accounts stopped sending out content typical of that posted by the regime in Pyongyang, such as photos of North's leader Kim Jong Un meeting with military officials.Instead, a picture posted Thursday on the North's Flickr site shows Kim's face with a pig-like snout and a drawing of Mickey Mouse on his chest. Undern

A nuclear reactor on South Korea's southeast coast was shut down Thursday afternoon, but the cause was not immediately known, plant operators said.No immediate threats of a radiation leak were detected, according to the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co.The Gori Nuclear Power Plant, about 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, halted operation at around 4:34 p.m., only hours after it resumed operation following a two-month maintenance that ended Wednesday.An investigation was underway to identify the

South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday it tapped an economics professor who was an aide to President Park Geun-hye to head state-run KDB Financial Group Co., following the former president's resignation amid a big government shake-up of banking chiefs.The Financial Services Commission said Hong Ki-taek, who teaches economics at Chungang University, will preside over KDB Financial Group and its banking unit Korea Development Bank.The KDB Financial chief was appointed by the president on

작년 국제기구로 거듭난 글로벌녹색성장연구소(GGGI)가 녹색기후기금(GCF) 사무국이 들어설 인천 송도로의 이전을 검토하고 있다고 관계자들이 밝혔다. GGGI 관계자는 최근 “인천시로부터 10년 사무실 무상임대를 제의받고 이전을 검토 중”이라며 “만약 가게 된다면 GCF가 위치할 I-타워에 입주하게 될 것”이라고 말했다. 김성환 전 외교통상부 장관 및 청와대 관계자들은 지난 1월 아부다비에서 열린 GGGI 2차 이사회에 참석, 본부 인천 이전안을 비공식적으로 타진한 것으로 알려졌다. 또한 이 관계자들은 GGGI의 3차 이사회를 인천 송도에서 개최하는 방안을 추진하고 있으며 이때 본부 이전이 공식 안건으로 논의될 수도 있다고 덧붙였다.시는 지난 10월 GCF 사무국을 송도에 유치한 후 GGGI 본부와 녹색성장기술센터(GTC-K) 등 다른 환경분야 국제기구를 그 일대에 집중 유치하겠다는 전략을 추진하고 있다. 시는 GCF 사무국에 I-타워 내 15개 층을 10년간 단계적으로 무상 임대하

ISTANBUL (AFP) -- A former agriculture minister and an economist are leading candidates to be named Syria's first rebel prime minister when the opposition Syrian National Coalition meets to vote in Turkey this week.The two men are among around 10 opposition figures Coalition members are expected to consider during their gathering in Istanbul on March 18 and 19.The list includes virtual unknowns, as well as some prominent members of the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, with forme

TOKYO (AFP) -- Tokyo's first amphibious tourist buses were put into service Sunday, carrying 40 passengers through the city's low eastern side by road before taking to the Naka river during a 100-minute "Tokyo Splash Tour."The two buses, dubbed "Sky Ducks", departed from Tokyo's new landmark Skytree, the world's tallest communications tower at 634 metres.Similar amphibious sightseeing buses have been in service in the western city of Osaka and a few other tourist spots in Japan.Tokyo finally joi

Medical expenses for senior citizens represented more than 30 percent of all medical spending covered by South Korea's national health insurance program last year, data showed Sunday.According to the data by the National Health Insurance Service, the country's state-run health insurance firm, medical expenses for people aged 65 or older accounted for 34.4 percent of all medical spending by the firm in 2012.The ratio has been increasing since 2005 when it registered 24.4 percent. A total of 47.84

VATICAN CITY (AFP) -- Pope Francis appeared before some 150,000 pilgrims massed in St Peter's Square on Sunday for his first Angelus prayer and asked the faithful to pray for him."Thank you for your welcome, and for your prayers," the first pope from Latin America said from a window of the papal apartment high above the square. "Pray for me," he added.Dozens of flags from Francis' native Argentina were waving in the square, along with the Vatican's yellow and white standard, as the former cardin

South Korea and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a United Nations organization, have signed a headquarter agreement regulating the privileges and immunities of GCF and its staff, the finance ministry said Sunday.The agreement was signed in Berlin, Germany, during the third round of the GCF board meeting held from March 12-15, the ministry said.The agreement laid the legal foundations for the establishment of the GCF headquarters to the Songdo International Business District in Incheon, 40 kilometer