Bus drivers nationwide will abandon their vehicles from Thursday in protest against a bill that redefines taxis as a mode of mass transit and offers them compensation for losses.The bill, which unanimously passed through the parliamentary committee on land, transport and maritime affairs last week, was also approved on Wednesday by the parliamentary Legislation and Judiciary Committee, paving the way for being finally dealt with during the plenary session scheduled for Friday.Expressing immediat

Hewlett-Packard Co. said on Tuesday that it's the victim of a multi-billion dollar fraud at the hands of a British company it bought last year that lied about its finances.HP CEO Meg Whitman said executives at Autonomy Corporation PLC “willfully” boosted the company's figures through various accounting tricks, which convinced HP to pay $9.7 billion for the company in October 2011.Autonomy's former CEO said HP's allegations are false.HP is now taking an $8.8 billion charge to align Autonomy's pur

A diplomatic push to end Israel's nearly weeklong offensive in the Gaza Strip gained momentum Tuesday, with Egypt's president predicting that airstrikes would soon end, the U.S. secretary of state racing to the region and Israel's prime minister saying his country would be a “willing partner” to a cease-fire with the Islamic militant group Hamas.As international diplomats worked to cement a deal, senior Hamas officials said some sticking points remained even as relentless airstrikes and rocket a

Astronomers using an infrared telescope in Hawaii say they've captured a rare image of a "Super-Jupiter" around a massive distant star.Of the nearly 850 exoplanets discovered orbiting stars other than the sun, only a few have been captured in actual astronomical images.Most are detected by indirect means, since stars are much brighter than their planets and with traditional observational techniques the planet will be hidden in the glare of its host star.Obtaining an image of the planet orbiting

Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers traded fire and tough cease-fire proposals Monday, and threatened to escalate their border conflict if diplomacy fails. No deal appeared near.An Israeli airstrike targeting a Gaza media center killed a senior militant and engulfed the building in flames, while Gaza fighters fired 95 rockets at Israel, nearly one-third of them intercepted by an Israeli missile shield.A total of 38 Palestinians were killed Monday, bringing the death toll since the start of Israel's o

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded France's government bond rating, citing the country's weak economic growth outlook and its exposure to Europe's economic crisis.The rating agency lowered France's rating one notch on Monday from Aaa _ its top rating _ to Aa1. The outlook for the rating remains negative, meaning it could face future downgrades.Moody's says France's long-term growth outlook is slowing and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict how resilient it will be to futu

Colombia's main rebel group announced a unilateral cease-fire on Monday as it began much-anticipated peace talks, but the Bogota government responded that it would continue military operations.  Top negotiator Ivan Marquez said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia would halt all acts of sabotage and attacks against government and private property starting at midnight Monday and running through Jan. 20.He made the announcement as negotiators for both sides entered the talks in Havana withou

A ranking Seoul prosecutor was formally detained Monday pending trial on charges of receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions of won in return for favors, a special prosecution team looking into the case said.The Seoul Central District Court approved the special investigation team's request to issue an arrest warrant for the disgraced prosecutor Kim Kwang-joon.The 51-year-old prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office is accused of receiving a total of nearly 900 million won ($826,000) f

China, Japan, and South Korea are expected to agree on the launch of three-way free trade talks at a summit in the Cambodian capital this week, Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday."I am optimistic the three parties can reach a consensus to commence the negotiations," Qin Gang told reporters in Phnom Penh where leaders of the three nations will attend an East Asia Summit from Monday.Qin said trade ministers were likely to hold a trilateral meeting on the matter on the sidelines of th

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as investor sentiment was boosted by last week's gains on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 13.77 points, or 0.74 percent, to trade at 1874.60 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics increasing 0.84 percent and leading carmaker Hyundai Motor adding 0.46 percent. Top builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction climbed 1.15

Overseas orders won by South Korean builders surpassed $50 billion for the third straight year in 2012, due to increased demand from the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, data showed Monday.Local builders signed deals worth $51.6 billion during the January-November period, up 13 percent from the same period last year, according to the data released by the International Contractors Association of Korea.Still, industry officials said it remained unclear whether the companies could achieve the

South Korean Choi Na-yeon overcame an early double bogey and held off compatriot Ryu So-yeon to win the final LPGA Tour event of the season in Florida on Sunday.Choi captured the CME Group Titleholders at the TwinEagles Golf Club in Naples, Florida. She shot a final round of two-under 70 on the 7,634-yard layout for a four-round total of 14-under 274. The 25-year-old took home US$500,000 for her second win this year.Ryu, the 2012 LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year, also shot a 70 in the final round bu