The economic participation rate for South Korean females in their 20s exceeded that of their male counterparts for the fourth consecutive quarter in 2013, data showed Monday, as more women received college education.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the economic participation rate among women in their 20s stood at 61 percent in the January-March period, compared to 60.7 percent for men in the same age group.The economic participation rate refers to the portion of the population that is

At least 112 people were killed in a fire at a poultry processing plant in northeastern China on Monday, local officials said, in what appeared to be the country's worst blaze for 12 years.More than 300 workers were at the Baoyuan poultry plant at Dehui in Jilin province when the fire broke out and emergency workers searching for survivors were uncertain how many remained trapped inside, Xinhua news agency said."As of 3:20 pm, altogether 112 people had died," the Jilin provincial government info

Top South Korean winter sports officials and athletes Friday reaffirmed their resolve to be successful at the next two Winter Games, announcing steps to improve training environments and introduce scientific approach to Olympic preparations.About 150 officials and athletes descended on the National Training Center in Seoul for an event to declare their goals for successful Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014 and then in PyeongChang, a South Korean alpine town, in 2018.Yoo Jin-ryong, minist

Switzerland‘s central bank has no mission to save troubled banks, its president told local media Sunday, as a string of the country’s financial institutions face potentially massive fines over secrecy rules.Earlier this week, the small alpine nation struck a deal with the United States to enable Swiss banks to circumvent some elements of secrecy laws and turn over key information to U.S. authorities. Washington has repeatedly accused Swiss banks of complicity in tax evasion, since they hold bill

China, India and Pakistan have increased their nuclear weapons by about 10 warheads each in the past year, and other nuclear states appear set on maintaining their arsenals, a Swedish think tank said Monday.  At the start of the year, China had raised its number of nuclear warheads to 250 from 240 in 2012 as part of a process to modernize its defense, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. However it also said China is ``highly non-transparent'' when it comes to its nuclear a

Senior diplomats from South Korea and China held regular talks on Monday to discuss a range of issues, including North Korea, ahead of President Park Geun-hye's state visit to Beijing later this month, officials said. The one-day meeting in Beijing is also expected to discuss last week's deportation of nine young North Korean defectors, who were arrested in Laos then returned to the North via China."There is a possibility that the issue of North Korean defectors could be discussed," said a senio

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Monday, dented by poor U.S. consumer spending data reflecting a slow economic recovery, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 1.15 points, or 0.06 percent, to 1,999.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shipping lines and financial firms drove down the shares.Leading player Hanjin Shipping fell more than 2 percent, with No. 1 brokerage house Samsung Securities slipping 1.2 percent. U.S. consumer spending posted the

South Korea issued a preliminary warning for a possible power shortage Monday, signaling the start of what is expected to be a long streak of difficulties created by a recent shutdown of nuclear reactors.The warning was issued after the country's power reserve level temporarily dipped to under 4.5 million kilowatts, according to the Korea Power Exchange, the state-run distributor of electricity. A level 2 warning is issued when the power reserve falls below 4 million kilowatts.The Korea Electric

The Palestinian president Abbas on Sunday picked a little-known academic as his new prime minister, according to the official government news agency, following the resignation of his chief rival. Mahmoud Abbas appointed Rami Hamdallah to replace Salam Fayyad, a respected U.S.-educated economist. Fayyad frequently clashed with Abbas and was seen as being too independent.Appointing Hamdallah is likely to shore up the president's power, because he is seen as being more pliant. The new prime ministe

Egypt's highest court ruled on Sunday that the nation's interim parliament was illegally elected, though it stopped short of dissolving the chamber immediately, in a decision likely to fuel the tensions between the ruling Islamists and the judiciary. The Supreme Constitutional Court also ruled that a 100-member panel that drafted the new constitution was illegally elected.The immediate impact of the ruling is limited. The Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament, called the Shura Council, wi

South Korea's consumer prices grew at the slowest pace in nearly 14 years in May, indicating that inflation remains in a quite stable mode, a government report showed Monday.The country's consumer prices index rose 1 percent on-year in May, slowing from a 1.2 percent on-year gain in the previous month, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The figure was the slowest growth since September 1999 when it increased 0.8 percent on-year. It also represented the seventh straight month since Nove

홍콩의 한 스타벅스 매장이 화장실 수돗물을 이용해 커피를 끓여온 것으로 밝혀져 소비자들의 비난이 쏟아지고 있다.홍콩 시내의 유명 빌딩인 뱅크오브차이나타워에 2011년 10월 입점한 이 스타벅스 매장은 하루 5차례에 걸쳐 인근 주차장 공중 화장실의 세면대에서 받아온 수돗물을 식수로 이용해온 것으로 드러났다.홍콩 현지 매체의 사진을 보면 위생이 불량해 보이는 화장실의 소변기 옆 세면대 수도꼭지에 “스타벅스 전용(Starbucks Only)”라는 표지가 붙어있다.이 같은 사실이 알려지자 스타벅스 홍콩지점 페이스북에는 “정말 실망스럽다”, “이제 스타벅스 커피를 구매하는 게 걱정된다”는 내용의 비난글들이 쇄도했다.웬디 팽 스타벅스 대변인은 “매장에 물을 공급할 수 있는 직접적인 식수원이 없어 빌딩 가장 가까운 곳에서 물을 받아온 것”이라며 “화장실에서 받아온 물은 매장 내에서 정수 절차를 거치기 때문에 세계 보건기구 위생기준을 충족시켰을 것”이라고 해명했다. (연합뉴스) <관련 영문 기사>

페이스북의 유명인 페이지와 프로필의 사실 여부를 확인해주는 제도가 네티즌들로부터 환영을 받고 있다.29일 (현지시간) 페이스북은 연예인, 언론인 등을 포함한 유명인과 정부기관의 공식 페이지가 맞는지를 알려주는 확인제를 실시한다고 밝혔다.페이스북에 따르면 해당 페이지와 프로필이 유명인 등의 실제 계정이 맞을 경우 타임라인 상단의 이름 옆에 파란색 동그라미 속 체크 표시가 나타나게 된다.이를 통해 페이스북 상에서 특정 유명인이나 브랜드를 찾으려는 이용자들은 여러 개의 관련 페이지 중에서 ‘진짜’를 쉽게 구별해낼 수 있다.페이스북 사용자들은 확인제 도입에 긍정적인 반응을 보였다.미국의 한 사용자는 ”페이스북의 가짜 사용자가 판을 쳤다. 이번 제도 도입이 긍정적인 효과를 가져오길 기대한다“고 밝혔다.한국의 한 사용자는 “진작에 도입이 됐어야 했다”며 ”페이스북에 유명인 사칭 사용자들이 넘쳐난다. 굉장히 짜증나는 일이다“고 말했다.한편, 페이스북은 그간 넘쳐나는 일명 페이크 페이지들로 몸살을