The deadly Ebola virus can spread like a forest fire, US health authorities said Monday, urging travelers to West Africa to take extra precautions amid the largest outbreak in history.Since March, there have been 1,201 cases of Ebola and 672 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.Two Americans -- one doctor and one healthcare worker -- in Monrovia, Liberia have come down with the virus, characterized by fever, joint pain, diarrhea, vomitin

Conflicts and repression around the world last year triggered the largest displacement of religious communities in recent memory, the United States said Monday, revealing millions had fled their homes."In almost every corner of the globe, millions of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and others representing a range of faiths were forced from their homes on account of their religious beliefs," Washington said in its annual International Religious Freedom Report."Out of fear or by force, entire neighbo

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill calling for strengthening financial sanctions on North Korea and holding officials of the totalitarian nation accountable for human rights abuses.The legislation -- H.R. 1771 or the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act -- was unanimously approved in a plenary session of the House, Congressional officials said. The bill, introduced last year by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House foreign relations committee, won approval from the

U.S. high school textbooks should increase their coverage of the Korean War as it is a great way to look at the Cold War, American teachers said Monday, emphasizing the conflict gets too little coverage compared with the Vietnam War."There is a real tangible gap that the Korean War is roughly one-third of the representation of the Vietnam War," Samantha Fraser, a history teacher at River Ridge High School in the U.S. state of Georgia, said during a press conference.Fraser, 31, a granddaughter of

The financial watchdog's lax supervision led to a massive leak of customer information from the nation's three major financial institutions that came to light early this year, the state auditor said Monday. In January, an employee of the Korea Credit Bureau (KCB), a credit reference agency, was found to have stolen sensitive personal information, including resident registration numbers, bank account numbers and credit scores from Kookmin Card Co., Lotte Card Co. and Nonghyup Bank.The three compa

Two Army privates who were on the military's list of soldiers "requiring extra care" have died after apparent suicides, the Army said Monday, sounding an alarm for the country's troop management.A 21-year-old private, identified only by his surname Park, was found hanged in a restroom of his barracks in the central part of the country at about 8:10 p.m. on Sunday. He was immediately taken to a military hospital, but was pronounced dead some three hours later."After joining his unit on June 20, h

An art exhibition in China by a North Korean defector has been cancelled, gallery staff said Monday, with reports saying the show had been dismantled on official orders.Sun Mu, who slipped out of North Korea in 1998 and uses a pseudonym because of concerns for his safety, paints satirical imitations of Pyongyang's propaganda imagery.An exhibition of his works had been due to open at the Yuan Dian gallery at the weekend, but China is nuclear-armed Pyongyang's key diplomatic backer and aid provide

South Korea confirmed another case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) Monday, signaling a possible spread of the animal disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cows and sheep.The additional outbreak was confirmed at a pig farm in Goryeong, North Gyeongsang Province, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.The report came four days after the country confirmed its first outbreak of FMD in over three years at a pig farm in nearby Uiseong."All pigs at the Goryeong

About 90 bishops from around the world will accompany Pope Francis on his visit to South Korea next month, the preparation committee for the papal visit said Monday."Some 90 bishops, including 30 in the pope's entourage and 60 from other Asian countries, will attend various events during the pope's visit to South Korea," the committee told reporters.The pope is scheduled to visit South Korea on Aug. 14-18, during which he will celebrate four Masses, including one for the beatification of 124 Kor

The South Korean government has allowed the country's lexicographers to meet with their North Korean colleagues in China this week for a project to publish a joint dictionary of their language, officials here said Monday.A group of 32 South Korean lexicographers will hold a meeting with their northern counterparts in the Chinese city of Xinyang from Tuesday through Aug. 6, said the unification ministry.The two sides plan to discuss a schedule for making what is called the Big Dictionary of the K

Prosecutors on Monday demanded a 20-year jail sentence for a left-leaning lawmaker accused of plotting an armed rebellion against the government.    Rep. Lee Seok-ki of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP) went on trial in September on charges of conspiring with members of a clandestine organization to topple the Seoul government if a war with North Korea broke out and instigating them to do so.In February, a local court sentenced him to 12 years in prison and stripped him of his

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up his 12th win of the Major League Baseball(MLB) season on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants, holding the National League (NL) West rivals to three earned runs in six innings.Ryu also struck out seven and walked one in his six frames to improve to 12-5 for the year, as the Dodgers beat the Giants 4-3.His ERA went up slightly from 3.39 to 3.44.Ryu is well ahead of the pace from his rookie season in 2013, when he didn't get his 12th win until A

The UN Security Council on Monday appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza at a late-night emergency meeting called as fighting between Israel and Hamas entered its third week.The 15-member Council released a statement calling for the truce to allow aid deliveries during the Muslim Eid festival marking the end of Ramadan, and as the death toll rose to more than 1,030 Palestinians. The Council expressed "strong support" for an "immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire,"

Teenaged student survivors of South Korea's ferry disaster began giving video testimony under tight security Monday in the murder trial of the vessel's captain and crew.It was the first time the survivors -- all from Dawon High School in Ansan city south of Seoul -- have given evidence in the trial which began more than a month ago.Police cordons blocked public access to the district court in Ansan City, outside Seoul, as the students arrived in a red mini-bus and were escorted into the building