Japan has revised its economic growth estimate for the last quarter downward after finding that capital investment slowed more than expected in July-September. The government said Monday that the world's third-largest economy grew an annualized 1.1 percent in the last quarter, less than half the pace of the previous quarter. The previous estimate had put growth at 1.9 percent. The economy grew at a 4.3 percent pace in the first quarter of the year and 3.8 percent in April-June.Prime Minister Shi

China announced a ban on the serving of shark fin and bird's nest soup at official banquets Sunday, as part of a sweeping government crackdown on corruption and excessive spending.Shark fin has effectively been off the menu at official dining tables since 2012 when Beijing pledged to bar the popular yet controversial delicacy as part of its anti-extravagance campaign.Demand for shark fin has plummeted after many high-end hotels and restaurants stopped serving the dish, along with other expensive

South Korea is preparing to hold high-level talks with the United States this month on major issues of mutual concern, including North Korea and tensions among regional powers, a diplomatic source said Sunday. Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-hyun plans to visit Washington in mid-December for the strategic dialogue with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, said the source.It would be their first one-on-one meeting since Kim's visit here in June.To be mainly discussed are ways to restart the si

Pro-EU Ukrainian protesters on Sunday toppled a statue of the Soviet Union's founder Vladimir Lenin in Kiev after hundreds of thousands massed for a new protest in an increasingly tense standoff with President Viktor Yanukovych's government.The protesters had filled Independence Square in central Kiev and surrounding streets to bursting point to denounce Yanukovych's rejection of an EU pact under Kremlin pressure, in the biggest protests since the 2004 Orange Revolution.In a hugely symbolic deno

Ulsan Hyundai, the runner-up in the top division football league this year, named a new head coach on Friday, two days after an abrupt resignation of the former bench boss.The K League Classic club said former national team defender Jo Min-gook will take over as the head coach. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.Jo, 50, had coached Ulsan Hyundai Mipo Dolphin FC in the National League, the country's top semi-professional competition, since 2009, and this is his first coaching post in

South Korean stocks closed 0.22 percent lower Friday as investors awaited job data from the United States to be released later in the day, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 4.36 points to 1,980.41. Trading volume was low at 198.5 million shares worth 3.25 trillion won ($3.07 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 435 to 374.Analysts said investors maintained a wait-and-see approach toward November's U.S.

South Korea enshrined the remains of 666 soldiers on Friday, more than 60 years after they were killed in the three-year Korean War that ended in a truce in 1953.Prime Minister Chung Hong-won, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and 400 other government and military officials attended an enshrinement ceremony at Seoul National Cemetery for the remains excavated this year. A total of 731 sets of remains were recovered after searching 77 former battlefield sites from March to November, of which 666 have

South Korean stocks traded almost flat late Friday morning as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the release of U.S. jobs data, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.55 points, or 0.13 percent, to 1,987.32 as of 11:20 a.m.Blue-chip shares traded mixed, with tech giant Samsung Electronics falling 0.14 percent while top chipmaker SK hynix added 3.07 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display advanced 4.7 percent.Mobile carriers also traded mixed, with No. 1 S

The city of Seoul got cleared of ultrafine dust coming from China on Friday, leading the Seoul government to lift the warning against the pollutant.Concerns, however, persist, as China still has a high level of the "particulate matter (PM) 2.5," a nanoscale particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter and largely made up of sulphate and nitrate particles.The city and the surrounding areas experienced unprecedentedly thick layers of ultrafine pollutants on Thursday, prompting th

The thing about Nelson Mandela was that he made the rest of us want to be almost as noble as he.Imprisoned for 27 years, the anti-apartheid leader who had declared at his 1964 trial that he was willing to die for his beliefs in human dignity and racial equality emerged from that experience not filled with hatred, but courtly, magnanimous, humble and good-humored. His very demeanor served as the rebuttal to all those who peddled fear and foretold disaster and bloodshed should black South Africans

The world knows Nelson Mandela as a man who forever changed the course of modern history and who will surely continue to leave his mark long after his death Thursday at the age of 95.You may know that he spent 27 years in prison, that he led South Africa out of apartheid and that he served as his nation's first black president.But did you know about the role of rugby in his legacy? His musings on Valentine's Day? The lessons he taught sympathetic prison guards during his time behind bars? Here a