Italy remained in political limbo on Friday after talks to break a deadlock created by inconclusive polls ended with no solution in sight, leaving the make-up of the future government of the eurozone's third largest economy in the hands of the president.After a day-long round of consultations with President Giorgio Napolitano, the country's parties appeared to be as far as ever from resolving a stalemate left after the centre-left won the February ballot by a whisker but failed to secure a key m

President Park Geun-hye nominated a former state arms procurement agency chief to be the new head of South Korea's antitrust watchdog, the presidential office said Saturday.The nomination of Noh Dae-lae as Fair Trade Commission chief came days after Park's earlier choice for the job resigned amid allegations that he has been holding secret overseas bank accounts to evade taxes.Noh, 57, is an economic technocrat who had worked in various posts at the finance ministry since 1979 before serving as

While military tensions on the Korean Peninsula show no signs of abating, international efforts continue to address North Korea's abysmal human rights situation.The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, said Friday it would hold a forum next week aimed at raising public awareness on the communist nation's human rights abuses.With the theme of "Human Rights in Kim Jong-un's North Korea: Is progress possible?" the session will take place on

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Friday as investor sentiment was cheered by the government's economic stimulus unveiled the previous day, which included a possible extra budget worth 10 trillion won (US$89.8 billion), analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 16.31 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,009.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares gathered ground across the board, with builders and brokerage houses leading the rise. No. 1 player Hyun

Iran, North Korea and Syria blocked adoption Thursday of a U.N. treaty that would regulate the multibillion-dollar international arms trade which required agreement by all 193 U.N. member states.In an unexpected twist, Mexico proposed that the conference go ahead and adopt the treaty Thursday without the support of the three countries, saying there was no definition of “consensus.” Delegates then started debating whether this should be done and several countries supported Mexico, but the Russian

For the second time in less than a month, the U.S. stock market marched past another milepost on its long, turbulent journey back from the Great Recession, toppling another record left over from the days before government bailouts and failing investment banks.The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at a new high Thursday, three weeks after another popular market gauge, the Dow Jones industrial average, obliterated its own closing record. The S&P capped its best quarter in a year, rising 10 percent, and

The U.N. Security Council authorized a new “intervention brigade” for Congo on Thursday with an unprecedented mandate to take military action against rebel groups to help bring peace to the country's conflict-wracked east.The resolution, which the council adopted unanimously, gives the brigade a mandate to carry out offensive operations alone or with Congolese army troops to neutralize and disarm armed groups.The brigade is unprecedented in U.N. peacekeeping because of its offensive mandate. The

South Korea's industrial output shrank for the second straight month in February, intensifying worries that industrial activities might be slowing due to toughened economic conditions, a government report showed Friday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries dropped 0.8 percent last month from a month earlier. It is the second straight on-month contraction following a revised 1.2 percent fall in January.The output also

The unprecedented U.S. decision to send nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers to drop dummy munitions during military drills with South Korea this week was part of normal exercises and not intended to provoke a reaction from North Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday.Hagel acknowledged, however, that North Korea's belligerent tones and actions in recent weeks have ratcheted up the danger in the region, “and we have to understand that reality.”Speaking to Pentagon reporters, both Hage