The death toll from a new strain of bird flu in China has reached 20, with dozens infected, state media reported Sunday, as experts said there was no evidence so far of human-to-human transmission.The H7N9 virus has been detected in 102 people, mostly in eastern China, including 20 cases which proved fatal, Xinhua news agency said after the latest daily update from the National Health and Family Planning Commission.A total of 33 infections, including 11 deaths, have been reported in the eastern

They crossed the line in front of Buckingham Palace with black ribbons on their chests and the Boston Marathon victims on their minds.Six days after bombs exploded near the Boston finish line, the London Marathon sent out a powerful message of solidarity with the U.S. city and its victims Sunday and put the spotlight back on the sport and away from terrorist fears.The men's race began with a poignant 30-second period of silence to remember Boston's dead and injured and ended with a thrilling fin

Fighting between Nigeria's military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the nation's far northeast, officials said Sunday, an attack that saw insurgents fire rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with civilians. The fighting in Baga began Friday and lasted for hours, sending people fleeing into the arid scrublands surrounding the community on Lake Chad. By Sunday, when government officials finally felt safe

Paraguayans elected a tobacco magnate as their new leader Sunday, returning the conservative Colorado Party to the presidency that it held for 61 years before former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won the office in 2008. Horacio Cartes won a five-year term with 46 percent of the vote over 37 percent for Efrain Alegre of the Radical Liberal party, the Electoral Court announced after most votes were counted. Five other candidates trailed far behind. “I'll need help from all the Paraguayans to

국가정보원 직원의 대선개입 의혹 사건과 관련해 수사 초기 경찰 상부에서 수사 축소와 은폐를 지시했다는 주장이 제기돼 파문이 일고 있다.19일 연합뉴스 보도에 따르면 국정원 사건의 수사과정에 대해 잘 아는 경찰 A씨가 “작년 12월 민주통합당이 서울 수서경찰서에 고소장을 제출한 이후 수사 내내 서울경찰청에서 지속적으로 부당한 개입이 이뤄졌다”고 주장했다고 한다. 서울경찰청이 사건을 검찰에 18일 검찰에 넘긴 가운데 경찰 윗선이 부당하게 수사에 개입했다는 정황이 사실로 밝혀진다면 이에 따른 후폭풍이 클 것으로 보인다. 보도에 따르면 수서경찰서는 작년 12월 13일 대선개입의혹을 받고 있는 국정원 직원 김모 씨 (29)의 컴퓨터 2대(노트북, PC)를 서울경찰청 디지털증거분석팀에 분석해 달라고 의뢰했는데, 서울경찰청은 “이러면 신속한 수사가 어렵다”며 키워드의 수를 줄여서 다시 건네달라고 요청했다고 한다.결국 분석 의뢰된 키워드는 ‘박근혜’ ‘새누리당’ ‘문재인’ ‘민주통합당’ 등 단어

France confirmed Friday that seven members of a French family who were kidnapped in Cameroon in February had been released and were "all healthy."The president's office said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had immediately left for Cameroon to greet the family, which includes four young children. Cameroonian President Paul Biya had earlier announced that the family had been "handed over last night to Cameroonian authorities." (AFP)

South Korean stocks closed 0.35 percent higher Friday, as gains from non-ferrous metals and financial firms overshadowed concerns over worsening quarterly earnings, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 6.69 points to finish at 1,906.75. Trading volume was moderate at 324.8 million shares worth 4.37 trillion won ($3.91 billion), but decliners outnumbered gainers 422 to 379. "Those that have dipped in the past

The country's ruling and main opposition parties agreed Friday to pass the government's supplementary budget bill on May 3 after sorting out their differences on its allocation, party officials said.The government's proposal, which was unveiled on Tuesday, calls for an extra budget of 17.3 trillion won (US$15.4 billion) to boost the sluggish economy. Of the total, 12 trillion won has been set aside to meet the government's expected revenue shortfalls, while the remaining 5.3 trillion won will be

President Park Geun-hye's nominee for chief of the nation's antitrust watchdog won parliamentary approval Friday following a confirmation hearing that tested his suitability for the job.Noh Dae-lae, a former senior finance ministry official and former head of the state arms procurement agency, was tapped by the president last month to lead the Fair Trade Commission after Park's first nominee resigned over allegations that he kept secret overseas bank accounts in order to evade taxes.In Thursday'

Almost three weeks after China reported finding a new strain of bird flu in humans, experts are still stumped by how people are becoming infected when many appear to have had no recent contact with live fowl and the virus seemingly isn't passing from person to person. The uncertainty adds to challenges the Chinese government is facing in trying to control the spread of the H7N9 bird flu virus that has already killed 17 people and infected 70 others in the country, mostly along the eastern seaboa

The extra budget that the government recently drew up will likely delay achieving a fiscal balance until 2016 due to increased spending coupled with less-than-expected tax revenues, a government report showed Friday.The government earlier unveiled a 17.3 trillion won ($15.4 billion) extra budget aimed at boosting the country's slowing economic growth. This was the second largest since 2009 when it announced 28.4 trillion won in extra spending in response to the fallout from the global financial

Early voting for next week's by-elections kicked off Friday, with a handful of parliamentary candidates casting their ballots in a bid to draw voters to the polls.The early voting system is different from absentee voting in that it does not require voters to sign up in advance. Voters who expect to be busy or away on the election day can simply show up at a polling station during the voting period and cast their ballots.Early voting will run until Saturday.It is the first time for the new system

Microsoft is working with manufacturers to produce a line of small touch-screen devices powered by Windows, apparently intended to compete with tablets like the iPad Mini and Amazon Kindle Fire.Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, told investors and analysts on a conference call Thursday that the new devices will be available in coming months at competitive prices.Microsoft Corp. is struggling to extend its software into smartphones and tablets as consumers are turning away from PCs