South Korean stocks opened almost flat Thursday as investors sat on the sidelines ahead of the European Central Bank's monetary meeting, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 0.13 percent, or 2.55 percent, to 2,016.22 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Blue-chip shares traded mixed across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics moving down 0.28 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor climbing 2 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO gained 0.31 percen

North Korea is expected to open an embassy in Spain, a media report said Thursday.According to a report by Radio Free Asia, Madrid's foreign ministry recently gave North Korea the green light to set up a diplomatic mission there.The embassy will be set up at the Aravaca ward in the capital city, with Pyongyang already having signed a lease for the space, the Washington-based broadcaster said, citing local sources.North Korea established diplomatic relations with Spain in 2001.In recent months, P

More than 650,000 high school seniors and graduates in South Korea took the state-administered annual college entrance exam Thursday, the most crucial test of their academic careers seen as the deciding factor in their choice of college and future professions.A total of 650,747 people applied to take the nine-hour standardized College Scholastic Ability Test that was administered at 1,257 test centers across the country, the education ministry said.The exam, which consists mostly of multiple-cho

A rocket carrying the Olympic flame successfully blasted off Thursday from earth ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.NASA Live TV showed the rocket, emblazoned with the pale blue Sochi 2014 logo, launching from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome on a clear morning in Kazakhstan.The torch will make its way to the International Space Station before being taken into space itself _ for its first spacewalk.Russia's Mikhail Tyurin, NASA's Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata of Japan beamed at th

A U.S. human rights group has teamed up with a Holocaust museum in efforts to call attention to North Korea's human rights abuses.The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) said Wednesday it would hold a forum, titled "The Heart of Darkness:North Korea's Hidden Gulag," at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center later in the day. Among the participants will be Amb. Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, it added.The Washington-based HRNK and the museum i

Top South Korean, U.S. and Japanese nuclear envoys met here on Wednesday to discuss appropriate conditions for restarting the six-way talks with North Korea, apparently in response to China’s aggressive diplomatic efforts.Glyn Davies, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, hosted the trilateral session with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts ― Cho Tae-yong and Junichi Ihara.The three sides reaffirmed that denuclearization should be the No. 1 agenda item if the negotiations a

Twitter has set a price of $26 per share for its initial public offering, which means the company's stock can begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange in the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook's 2012 debut.The price values Twitter at more than $18 billion based on its outstanding stock, options and restricted stock that'll be available after the IPO. That's more than Macy's, which has a market capitalization of $17 billion, and Bed Bath & Beyond, which is around $16 billion.

Lionel Messi returned to form with two goals as Barcelona secured its spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League. Fellow Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain also had a brace for Napoli. And Samuel Eto'o scored for his fourth different team.On a night of standout individual performances Wednesday, Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand had a game he'll want to forget. His failed clearance led to Eto'o's opening goal in Chelsea's 3-0 win, which put Jose Mourinho's side atop Group E.Barcelona mad

This time last year, as the world's best tennis players faced each other in London at the season-ending finale, Rafael Nadal couldn't even practice.Trying not to look too far ahead, the Spaniard was at home in Spain, just thinking about his badly injured knee. Nadal didn't know if he would play competitive tennis again. “The thoughts about the future? Just focus on recover, focus on try to find a solution for my knee, and that's it. Working every day, trying to do different things to try to be b

Swiss scientists have found evidence suggesting Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with a radioactive substance, a TV station reported Wednesday, prompting new allegations by his widow that the Palestinian leader was the victim of a “shocking” crime.Palestinian officials have long accused Israel of poisoning Arafat, a claim Israel has denied. Arafat died under mysterious circumstances at a French military hospital in 2004, a month after falling ill at his Israeli-besieged West Bank compound.Th

There weren't any major economic developments or blockbuster earnings. But that didn't stop investors from pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to another record Wednesday.Instead, investors focused on the big economic news yet to come this week _ third-quarter U.S. economic growth on Thursday and the October jobs report Friday. Both reports could signal how much longer the Federal Reserve will continue its $85 billion a month in bond purchases. That program has held down interest rates, kep

A Seoul court on Wednesday extended the suspension of imprisonment of disgraced Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn by another four months, citing his poor health, court officials said.The custody suspension of Kim, who has been staying at a Seoul hospital after being temporarily released from prison in January, will be extended until Feb. 28, said the officials at the Seoul High Court.The 61-year-old tycoon, who is charged with embezzlement, will stand a retrial without physical detention, the

The top domestic baseball league on Wednesday announced a star-studded list of potential free agents.The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said 21 players will be eligible to declare for free agency this offseason. They have until Friday to exercise their rights.Headlining the list are two key members of the Samsung Lions, the three-time reigning KBO champions. Outfielder Park Han-yi, the 2013 Korean Series MVP, and left-handed pitcher Jang Won-sam, who had a 2.25 ERA in two Korean Series starts