South Korean stocks are likely to be affected by European and U.S. policy measures next week as investors keep tabs on the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve amid lingering worries over economic uncertainties, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.34 percent from a week earlier to end at 1,829.16 this week, with the market sinking to the 1,76

North Korea has disabled video camera and memory card functions in new mobile phones, a news report said Saturday, in what appears to be Pyongyang's latest move to tighten control over the flow of information within and across its borders.The North also removed the Bluetooth function, a protocol that allows mobile phone users to exchange data over short distances, and blocked subscribers from usin

The Defense Department should move more ships to the Pacific and better define its strategy as it pivots toward Asia to counter a rising China, according to a report commissioned by the Pentagon.The U.S. should deploy a second Amphibious Ready Group of ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific to meet the requirements of the Marine Corps, the report made public yesterday recommends. It also calls for

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Member states failed to reach agreement Friday on a new U.N. treaty to regulate the multibillion dollar global arms trade, and some diplomats and supporters blamed the United States for triggering the unraveling of the monthlong negotiating conference.Hopes had been raised that agreement could be reached on a revised treaty text that closed some major loopholes by Friday's d

The pilot of a U.S. military fighter jet that crashed into the sea off northern Japan on Sunday has been rescued six hours after the accident, Japan's Coast Guard said.The unnamed pilot was placed safely on a nearby U.S. container ship around 6 p.m., according to the agency, which sent ships and a plane to the accident site."The F-16 jet crashed some 470 nautical miles northeast of Nemuro" at arou

NEW DELHI (AFP) -- Former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was elected Indian president on Sunday after votes from national and state lawmakers were counted in the race for the mainly ceremonial post.Some analysts believe Mukherjee, a veteran from the ruling Congress party, may take a more active approach to the job than his predecessors as India struggles with a parliamentary deadlock and slowin

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The global economy is in the worst shape since the dark days of 2009.Six of the 17 countries that use the euro currency are in recession. The U.S. economy is struggling again. And the economic superstars of the developing world _ China, India and Brazil _ are in no position to come to the rescue. They're slowing, too.The lengthening shadow over the world's economy illustrates on

AURORA, Colorado (AFP) - US President Barack Obama will visit Colorado on Sunday to meet victims of the Batman cinema massacre, a day after police entered the gunman's booby-trapped apartment.The visit also comes after police revealed the names of the 12 people who died -- including a six-year-old girl whose mother was seriously injured -- while asserting that the alleged killer had been planning