Japan has acknowledged that it conducted only a limited investigation before claiming there was no official evidence that its imperial troops coerced Asian women into sexual slavery before and during World War II.A parliamentary statement signed Tuesday by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged the government had a set of documents produced by a postwar international military tribunal containing testimony by Japanese soldiers about abducting Chinese women as military sex slaves. That evidence ap

The Dow Jones industrial average rose, closing above 15,000 for a second day after breaching the landmark level for the first time Tuesday.On Wednesday, a day without any major economic releases, investors focused on company earnings as reporting for the first quarter draws to a close. Although earnings growth has slowed from last quarter, profits are at record levels and projected to rise throughout the year.The Dow closed up 48.92 points, or 0.3 percent, at 15,105.12. The index is 15.3 percent

Alex Ferguson will retire as Manchester United manager at the end of this season, the English Premier League champions announced Wednesday, bringing down the curtain on one of the most successful careers football has known.Ferguson, 71, has been in charge at Old Trafford for 26 years, guiding United to 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns.It was not until Tuesday that rumours of Ferguson's shock retirement started circulating but he said it was a decision he had been consider

캠브리지 대학 내의 남성동호회가 해마다 여는 여성 젤리 레슬링 행사가 학교 내 여학생들의 강력한 반대에 부딪혀 무산되었다.영국 데일리 메일 등이 7일 (현지시간) 보도한 바에 따르면 와이번 소사이이티란 동호회는 공식성명을 통해 올해는 젤리 레슬링 대회를 열지 않겠다고 발표했다. 매년 시험기간이 끝나고 열리는 여름 파티의 일환으로 실시되는 이 대회는 비키니를 입은 여성 두 명이 젤리 속에서 서로 레슬링을 해 우승자를 가린다.캠브리지 학생인 니나 드 폴라 하니카 씨는 6일, 이 행사의 중지를 요구하는 탄원서를 냈다. 그 탄원서에는 현재 1,100명 이상이 성명한 상태이다.그녀는 이 대회가 “21세기에 발붙일 곳이 없는 시대착오적인 성차별 행사”라면서 이런 대회가 아직도 있다는 것에 충격을 받았다고 비난했다.캠브리지 학생회의 여성 캠페인(Women’s Campaign) 역시 레슬링 대회를 비판하며 하니카 씨의 탄원서를 전적으로 지원할 것을 약속했다. 학생회의 수지 랭스데일 씨는 젤리 레슬

The U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday appointed three experts from Indonesia, Australia and Serbia to conduct a probe into North Korea’s human rights violations. U.N. Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia will lead the Commission of Inquiry along with Michael Kirby, a retired Supreme Court justice from Australia, and Sonja Biserko, founder and president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia. The 47-nation body in March approved its first-ever formal inquiry mechanism

China’s decision to end financial dealings with a key North Korean foreign exchange bank is a “significant” step that may severely punish North Korea for its internationally condemned nuclear ambitions, a Seoul official said Wednesday.Bank of China Ltd has shut down the account of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank, which was hit with U.S. sanctions in March after Washington accused it of helping finance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.The North’s state-run bank was told its transactions had b

South Korean stocks closed 0.11 percent higher Wednesday on rising hope over the global economic recovery following a series of advanced countries' stimulus moves, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 2.1 points to finish at 1,956.45. Trading volume was moderate at 332.7 million shares worth 4 trillion won (US$3.7 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 493 to 315."Seoul shares gathered ground on the m

Six out of 10 elderly people are not economically independent, a survey showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that South Koreans are not well-prepared for their retirement.The biennial survey by the National Pension Research Institute found that 59.3 percent of 4,105 households said they do not have the economic means to remain independent while 40.7 percent said they can support themselves.The survey also showed that 53.2 percent of retirees said they wanted to receive financial support from the

After being traded by the same Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team for the second time in his career this week, Kim Sang-hyun didn't initially hide his disappointment.In his first game for the SK Wyverns since being moved by the Kia Tigers, the right-handed slugger put what bitter feelings he might have had behind him, and made an immediate impact on the field. Batting cleanup for the Incheon-based club following Monday's trade, Kim went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Both RBIs ca

South Korea has approved 14 business projects related to a scenic mountain resort in North Korea, according to a government Web site Wednesday, raising speculation Seoul may be moving to lift restrictions on the resort that has been put on ice for nearly five years. The Ministry of Unification's Web site showed approval was given on Feb. 15 to businesses that applied to engage in various business operations at the scenic mountain resort on the communist country's east coast.This marks the first

Basketball hall-of-famer Dennis Rodman, who forged an unlikely friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on a recent trip, appealed Tuesday for the freedom of an American sentenced to 15 years."I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him 'Kim', to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose," Rodman tweeted.Bae, whose Korean name is Pae Jun-Ho, was sentenced last week to 15 years of hard labor on charges that he tried to topple the North Korean regime. The Korean-American

Sexual assaults in the U.S. military are a growing epidemic across the services and thousands of victims are still unwilling to come forward despite a slew of new oversight and assistance programs, according to a new Pentagon report.Troubling new numbers estimate that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, according to survey results released against a backdrops of scandals including an ongoing investigation into more than 30 Air Force instructors for assaults

The U.S. and Russia agreed Tuesday to try to convene an international conference this month to come to a political solution to end the two-year Syrian civil war but gave no indication how they would convince President Bashar Assad into talks with the rebels seeking to overthrow him.Secretary of State John Kerry said that if such a gambit were successful, it might no longer be necessary to consider arming the Syrian rebels. Kerry also said it was up to the Syrian people whether Assad should leave