Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday reshuffled his Cabinet after three key ministers resigned over a sweeping corruption and bribery scandal that has targeted his allies and rattled his government.Erdogan replaced Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Erdogan Bayraktar, the minister for the environment and urban planning.  All three men's sons were detained as part of the corruption investigation. They all deny any wrongdoing.Erdogan also repla

Egypt's military-backed interim government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization Wednesday, intensifying its campaign of arrests and prosecutions targeting its members and tightening the noose on the group's network of charities and businesses. The unprecedented executive decision likely ends any chance of reconciliation between the government and the 85-year-old Brotherhood, still Egypt's most organized political group. It marks a stunning reversal of fortunes for the long-ou

Israel likely will announce new plans for construction in Jewish settlements next week, an official said Wednesday, a move that is likely to trigger an international uproar and threaten peace talks with the Palestinians.The timing of the announcement would coincide with the expected release of a group of Palestinian prisoners. The government has announced new settlement construction plans during previous prisoner releases to blunt domestic criticism.The Israeli official said he “expects'' an ann

A majority of South Korean manufacturers predicted bearish business conditions for the first three months of 2014 due to a bleak outlook for economic recovery, a poll showed Thursday. The survey of 2,500 companies by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) showed the Business Survey Index (BSI) at 92 for the January-March period, down 2 points from 94 tallied three months earlier.The index gauges manufacturer sentiment, and a reading below the benchmark 100 means pessimists outnumber o

South Korean consumer sentiment in December held steady from the previous month at a 33-month high as the local economy is showing signs of improvement, the central bank said Thursday, although the sub-index remained somewhat downbeat.The consumer sentiment index (CSI) came in at 107 for December, unchanged from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index is a gauge of consumers’ overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending.The data marked the highest l

No more fighting is taking place near a U.N. peacekeeping base in South Sudan where the South Korean contingent of military engineers is stationed, a day after two mortar rounds struck the base, officials in Seoul said Thursday.The mortar attack came as South Sudan’s government troops and rebel forces clashed near the U.N. camp in the town of Bor, some 170 kilometers south of the capital Juba. The rounds struck the Nepalese camp inside the U.N. base, only 300 meters from the South Korean camp. S

Sales at South Korea’s major discount outlet chains and department stores grew last month from a year earlier, making a sharp turnaround from significant drops in the previous month, the government said Thursday.Combined sales of the country’s three major discount outlet chains gained 1 percent from the same month last year in November, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The figure also marks a 6.2 percent rise from October when they posted an on-year drop of 6.4 percent. Th

Two mortar cannons struck a U.N. peacekeeping base near a South Korean’ camp in South Sudan Tuesday as conflicts between government and rebel forces intensified, the Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.The 280-member Korean contingent, mostly engineers and medics, remain safe, officials said Wednesday. They are operating in the town of Bor, some 170 kilometers south of the capital Juba as part of the U.N. mission in the fledgling African nation.On Tuesday, two mortar cannons struck a Nepalese base

South Korea's economy is expected to grow 3.4 percent on-year in 2014 following a recovery in the global economy, a local think tank said Wednesday, noting policy uncertainties still remain a challenge.The prediction made by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), a research arm of the Federation of Korean Industries, is faster than the 2.6-percent expansion estimated for 2013.This year's growth outlook edged up 0.2 percentage point from KERI's earlier estimate of a 2.4 percent gain made i