Striking a tough tone, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry opened swiftly convened talks with Russia on Syria's chemical weapons Thursday by bluntly rejecting a Syrian pledge to begin a “standard process” by turning over information rather than weapons _ and nothing immediately.That won't do, Kerry declared at an opening news conference, a stone-faced Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at his side. “The words of the Syrian regime in our judgment are simply not enough.”“This is not a game,” Ke

A French satirical weekly Thursday shrugged off Japanese outrage over cartoons mocking the decision to award the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo despite the Fukushima nuclear crisis.Japan angrily denounced the cartoons and said it would lodge a formal complaint with Le Canard Enchaine.But the popular weekly said it took "responsibility for the cartoons without the slightest soul-searching" and complained that the Japanese lacked a sense of humour.One cartoon showed sumo wrestlers with extra limbs competi

Voyager 1 has crossed a new frontier, becoming the first spacecraft ever to leave the solar system, NASA said Thursday.Thirty-six years after it was launched from Earth on a tour of the outer planets, the plutonium-powered probe is more than 11 1/2 billion miles (18.51 billion kilometers) from the sun, cruising through interstellar space _ the vast, cold emptiness between the stars, the space agency said.Voyager 1 actually made its exit more than a year ago, according to NASA. But it's not as if

The global economy faces greater risks of cyclic downturns as the financial markets have become more interconnected since the demise of Lehman Brothers five years ago, the Bank of Korea chief warned.In a meeting with commercial bankers on Friday, BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo said the interconnectedness of markets worldwide had become “stronger” as economies tried to fix the global crisis.This market development is likely to increase financial risks worldwide, the central bank chief said.He added that

South Korea's flag carriers will work to further reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through improving the fuel efficiency of their aircraft and other measures, the government said Friday.The country's seven airlines will voluntarily cut their greenhouse gas emissions under an agreement signed with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The airlines will be given additional starting points, depending on their performance of the agreement, when applying for new air routes, the minis

Effectively spurning one of China's initiatives aimed at reviving multilateral talks with North Korea, South Korea and the United States have decided not to send government officials to a six-nation meeting to be held later this month, diplomatic sources here said Thursday."Given North Korea's attitude and the current mood, we are not in a stage yet for a gathering of government officials from the parties involved in the six-way talks," a source said.China has offered an informal meeting of gove

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Friday, as investors seek to take profit after upbeat rallies ahead of a holiday season here and a key policy event in the U.S. next week, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 3.52 points, or 0.18 percent to 2,000.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Large-cap stocks led the decline. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics slid 0.5 percent and top automaker Hyundai Motor dropped 0.4 percent. The KOSPI rallied more

The main opposition Democratic Party on Friday accepted President Park Geun-hye’s offer of dialogue but demanded an apology for the “democratic crisis” caused by the National Intelligence Agency’s alleged interference in last year’s presidential election. Park on Thursday offered to meet ruling and opposition leaders on Monday to break the prolonged political impasse and normalize matters at the National Assembly. “We will accept Cheong Wa Dae’s proposal for three-way talks,” DP chairman Kim Han

South and North Korea will try to work out a deal aimed at enhancing the rights and safety of South Korean workers at their joint factory complex in the communist country in upcoming talks, a government source said Thursday.Talks planned for Friday are expected to touch on issues that were not fully agreed upon during negotiations held earlier in the week. Marathon talks that ended early Wednesday yielded an opening date for the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, effectively ending the five-month-long

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers suffered his sixth loss of the Major League Baseball (MLB) season on Wednesday in a shaky outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.Ryu pitched six innings and allowed 10 hits and three runs, as the Dodgers lost 4-1. The lefty didn't walk a batter and had one strikeout.The South Korean dropped to 13-6 in his rookie season, and his ERA went up from 3.02 to 3.07. He also fell to 7-3 with a 2.23 ERA in 14 starts at home.Ryu is now 1-1 in four

Chief prosecutor Chae Dong-wook said Thursday he will file for correction with the court against the Chosun Ilbo which accused him of having an extramarital son in its recent report.The prosecutor general will forgo the extra step of mediation by the Press Arbitration Commission and take the case straight to the court for immediate resolution, said Koo Bon-seon, spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. Aside from filing the suit, Chae will also look into taking a paternity test as soon as