A Seoul court on Friday sentenced a U.S. soldier who shot pedestrians with a BB gun in downtown Seoul to three years in prison.The 26-year-old staff sergeant, surnamed Lopez, was indicted on charges of shooting the BB gun at pedestrians and leading police on a high-speed car chase in the crowded multicultural Itaewon district of Seoul in March, leaving one South Korean police officer injured."It is hard to believe Lopez is reflecting on his wrongdoing as he denies important facts related to the

Hansol Paper Co., a South Korean paper maker, said Friday that its wholly-owned investment unit Hansol Denmark ApS has bought a 97.5 percent stake in a Danish thermal paper retailer for 41.9 billion won (US$38.7 million) to obtain new growth engines.The stake purchase in the Danish company, Schades Holdings A/S, is aimed at securing its sales channel in the world's biggest European thermal paper market, which takes up 32 percent of the whole global demand, Hansol Paper said in a regulatory filin

A former pro-democracy activist and opposition politician was posthumously acquitted in a retrial Friday, 37 years after he was imprisoned for campaigning against the military-backed regime led by then President Park Chung-hee.The Seoul High Court found Kim Cheol, the late head of the opposition Reunification Socialist Party, not guilty of violating a now-defunct emergency decree enforced by the late Park to suppress the pro-democracy movement and an anti-Communist law.The court also apologized

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Sri Lanka's opposition and rights activists are demanding that the government punish those responsible for military's fatal shooting of three civilians during a recent protest demanding clean drinking water.About 1,000 demonstrators including opposition lawmakers, rights activists, journalists protested outside the country's main railroad station in the capital Colombo on Wednesday. They condemned the killing of three civilians and an attack on people seeking protectio

MUMBAI, (AFP) -- Indian navy divers have entered a stricken submarine which exploded and sank Wednesday in Mumbai but have detected no signs of life from the 18 crewmen on board, the navy said.Asked if there had been any communication with survivors, chief of naval staff D.K. Joshi told a press conference: "Of course not. I would have said so if we had."He added: "There is a possibility of an air pocket. Whilst the indicators are negative, one cannot lose hope."Joshi added that divers had entere

BEIJING (AP) -- Tens of thousands of people were evacuated as a powerful typhoon thundered into southern China on Wednesday after shutting down the bustling Asian financial center of Hong Kong and sinking a cargo ship. Packing high winds and torrential rain, Typhoon Utor forced the closure of schools, offices, shopping centers and construction sites in cities along its path northwest across Guangdong province.More than 60,000 people were evacuated in the city of Maoming alone, while another 98,0

BEIJING (AP) -- Tens of thousands of people were evacuated as a powerful typhoon thundered into southern China on Wednesday after shutting down the bustling Asian financial center of Hong Kong and sinking a cargo ship. Packing high winds and torrential rain, Typhoon Utor forced the closure of schools, offices, shopping centers and construction sites in cities along its path northwest across Guangdong province.More than 60,000 people were evacuated in the city of Maoming alone, while another 98,0

Koreas reach agreement to reopen suspended inter-Korean industrial parkMOSCOW (AP) -- Competitors at the world athletics championships are keeping their eyes focused on the finish line and relegating the controversy over Russia's new ban on gay "propaganda" to their peripheral vision.The law, passed in late June, has prompted strong calls among Western activists for a boycott of the Winter Olympics, which Russia will host in Sochi early next year.The intersection of politics and sports can be aw

South Korea dropped to Japan 2-1 in the final match of the East Asian Cup on Sunday, a result that gave Japan its first title at the regional tournament.Yoichiro Kakitani scored both goals for Japan, his second one coming in the dying moments of the match, as South Korea wrapped up the tournament without a victory.Japan finished with seven points, two ahead of China. Earlier on Sunday, China defeated Australia 4-3 to improve to five points.South Korea ended the tournament with one loss and two d

PHNOM PENH,  (AFP) - Cambodia's strongman premier Hun Sen looked poised Sunday to extend his 28-year rule after elections marred by allegations of widespread irregularities and the exclusion of the opposition chief.The former Khmer Rouge fighter turned prime minister appeared so confident of victory that he did not even bother personally to campaign.The opposition decried what it described as the kingdom's worst ever poll irregularities, including missing voter names and thousands of people who

Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin held Choo Shin-soo of the Cincinnati Reds hitless in three plate appearances en route to his ninth win on Saturday in the all-South Korean showdown in Major League Baseball (MLB).At Dodger Stadium, Choo went 0-for-2 with a walk against Ryu in their first big league meeting. Ryu earned the ninth win of his rookie season by pitching seven strong innings, giving up only one earned run on two hits and a walk while striking out nine.The Dodgers defeated the R

CAIRO, (AFP) -- Egyptian security forces killed 10 "terrorist" gunmen and captured 20 in an operation in the Sinai Peninsula over the past 48 hours, state news agency MENA reported on Sunday. "Security operations carried out by the armed forces and police in north Sinai to hunt down armed terrorists... (resulted) in the liquidation of 10 of these armed terrorist elements," the agency said, citing a security source.

KIRKUK (AFP) -- A suicide bomber killed nine Kurdish police in northern Iraq on Sunday, a district official and a  doctor said.The bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near a three-vehicle police convoy in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, also wounding nine officers, district official Shalal Abdul Baban told AFP.A doctor and police confirmed the toll.The town is part of a swathe of northern territory that Kurds want to incorporate into their three-province autonomous region over the strong obj

Former United States President Jimmy Carter plans to visit North Korea "very soon" to win the release of a Korean American man detained there, a U.S. radio station reported Sunday.Carter "is scheduled to visit North Korea very soon to discuss the release of Kenneth Bae," the Washington-based Radio Free Asia said in a report, citing multiple human rights officials.Last week, Kyodo News Service reported that Carter is considering a visit to Pyongyang at the invitation of the North Korean governmen

South Korean footballer Park Ji-sun is set to rejoin his former club PSV Eindhoven in the top Dutch league on a one-year loan deal from Queens Park Rangers (QPR) in England, news reports in the Netherlands said on Sunday.Voetbal International, a Dutch football magazine, reported online that the midfielder arrived in Eindhoven on Saturday, local time, and is scheduled to undergo a medical test on Sunday.Another news site, Soccernew.nl, also said Park is expected to have his medical test on Sunday