South Korean stocks are expected to trade higher next week on the back of rising hopes for the country's economy following the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Park Geun-hye, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed up 37.71 points, or 1.9 percent, to 2,018.89 on Friday from the previous week.Earlier this week, the KOSPI moved up as the investor sentiment was heightened by a G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers, where officials raised

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. envoy to Congo warned Friday that large-scale conflict could erupt again without warning as 11 nations prepare to sign a peace agreement aimed at ending nearly two decades of unending fighting in the mineral-rich African nation.Roger Meece told the U.N. Security Council that the security situation in the eastern Congo continues to deteriorate amid increasing fears that the rebel group known as M23, which captured the key city of Goma in November, will resume major

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Boeing attempted a major step Friday toward getting its 787 Dreamliners flying again, proposing a fix for the plane's troubled batteries that could allow the flights to resume as early as April, congressional officials said.The next question is whether the Federal Aviation Administration will agree to let the planes fly even though the root cause of a battery fire in one plane and a smoking battery in another is still unknown.A Boeing team led by CEO Ray Conner presented the p

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) -- U.S. prosecutors are investigating Johnson & Johnson's practices in marketing a line of hip replacements recalled in 2010 because many had to be replaced within a few years -- part of a string of more than 30 product recalls by the health care giant in the last 3 1/2 years.The U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts and the Civil Division of the U.S. Justice Department last August sent Johnson & Johnson an "informal request'' for information about its ASR hip replacem

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- Oscar Pistorius walked out of court Friday -- free at least for now -- after a South African magistrate released him on bail, capping four days of often startling testimony that foreshadowed a dramatic trial in the Valentine's Day slaying of his girlfriend.But as he was driven away, chased by photographers and cameramen, questions continued to hound the double-amputee Olympian about what actually happened the night he gunned down Reeva Steenkamp inside a locked bat

GAO, Mali (AFP) -- Five people, including two suicide bombers, died Friday in car bombings in northern Mali, a day after fierce urban battles between French-led forces and Islamists left up to 20 extremists dead, officials said.Two vehicles targeting civilians and members of the ethnic Tuareg rebel group, the MNLA, exploded near the town of Tessalit, killing three and wounding several others, a security source said. The suicide bomber drivers also died.A spokesman for the National Movement for t

HOLLYWOOD (AFP) -- This year's Oscars race may be one of the least predictable in recent memory -- but there is one virtual certainty for Sunday night: Daniel Day-Lewis will likely win a record third best actor prize.The British-Irish actor has won the main acting category in almost every show so far in Hollywood's annual awards season, which reaches its height with the 85th Academy Awards this weekend.And, while the other four actors nominated all put in great performances, Day-Lewis looks set

HOLLYWOOD (AFP) -- Multiple Oscar-winning Hollywood legends Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman were added Friday to the presenting line-up at this weekend's 85th Academy Awards.The pair will join a star-studded cast on stage Sunday including Michael Douglas, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.Nicholson has been nominated 12 times and won three times, as best leading actor in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Barack Obama insisted Friday that mandatory government budget cuts set to kick in on March 1 -- known as the sequester -- were not "inevitable."The cuts to defense and domestic spending were mandated in an agreement between Obama and his Republican foes to end a previous budget battle."I never think that anything is inevitable, we always have the opportunity to make the right decisions," Obama told reporters following a White House meeting with visiting Japanese Pri

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Friday that he would not "tolerate" any challenge to control over contested islands, after China's growing incursions into the area."We simply cannot tolerate any challenge now and in the future. No nation should make any miscalculation or underestimate the firmness of our resolve," Abe said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington."No one should ever doubt the robustness of the Japan-US alliance."Speaking af

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States and Japan said Friday that talks on a Pacific-wide free trade pact would not make prior exemptions of sectors, despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pledges in the last election.Abe, paying his first visit to Washington since his Liberal Democratic Party swept back to power, did not make any commitment on joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks but heard that Washington would not budge."Should Japan participate in the TPP negotiations, all goods would be s

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- At least six underground tanks containing nuclear waste in the northwestern US state of Washington are leaking, but there is no imminent threat to public health, a spokeswoman said Friday.The US Energy Department told the state last week that one tank was leaking at the Hanford nuclear site, but Energy Secretary Steven Chu informed its governor Jay Inslee on Friday that more leaks had been discovered."Secretary Chu let him know today that there are actually more tanks they'v

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Moody's stripped Britain of its triple-A debt rating Friday, saying government debt was still mounting and that growth was too weak to reverse the trend before 2016.In an expected rebuff to the Cameron government's hopes that sharp spending cuts would both reduce its deficit and give growth a boost, the rating agency cut Britain's grade by one notch to Aa1.In parallel, it lowered the rating of the country's central bank, the Bank of England, which also fell from AAA to Aa1.Th

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- America's top diplomat John Kerry  will begin on his first official trip as secretary of state on Sunday, a marathon get-acquainted tour of America's closest allies in Europe and the Middle East.Kerry will visit the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar from Feb. 24 to March 6.The first stop will be London, where Kerry will meet with senior British officials, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told r

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The US military suspended all test flights Friday for the new F-35 fighter jet over potential engine problems, officials said, the latest setback for a program dogged by cost overruns and technical glitches.The move was described as a "precautionary measure" after a crack was discovered on a turbine blade in one F-35 engine at Edwards Air Force Base in California."It is too early to know the fleet-wide impact of this finding, however as a precautionary measure, all F-35 fligh