WASHINGTON (AFP) - The U.S. military is weighing support for French forces in Mali including surveillance drones, a U.S. official said Friday, as Washington backed moves to deny safe haven to extremists in the country.U.S. commanders were looking at providing intelligence and aerial refueling tankers among a range of options, such as logistical backup and boosting intelligence sharing, which would involve surveillance drones, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.Backed by

The defense ministry plans to double soldiers' salaries in the next five years to carry out incoming President Park Geun-hye's election pledge, officials said Thursday.The plan will be reported to Park's transition team on Friday, the first briefing by a government agency since Park was elected in December, along with other major defense and security issues.The move comes as Park promised to double soldiers' pay, which is set at 96,000 won ($90) on average, to appeal to soldiers and their parent

A U.S. soldier has been indicted Thursday on charges of smuggling a massive amount of marijuana into the country, South Korean prosecutors said Thursday.The 23-year-old corporal from the U.S. Air Force base in Osan, identified only by his initial M, is accused of smuggling 944 grams of marijuana with coffee beans via international air mail in September, prosecutors said.That quantity is enough for approximately 1,800 doses, they added.The prosecutors said they have indicted the soldier after the

President-elect Park Geun-hye vowed Thursday to boost the country's science and technology sector, crediting it with driving economic growth both in the past and in the future, a spokesman said."Although there are many difficulties in the science and technology sector, I believe science and technology are the engine for future growth, and I will do my best to use developments in science and technology as a foundation for our country's advancement into a developed country," spokesman Park Sun-kyo

A female criminal suspect, accused of offering sex to a prosecutor questioning her in return for leniency, sued three people for circulating her photo on the Internet, the woman's lawyer said Thursday.A photo of the 42-year-old woman began to spread on the Internet when the sex scandal was reported by news media in late November. More photos of her were later put online.The woman asked the police to investigate those who had leaked and circulated her photo on Nov. 28 for the first time, the lawy

LONDON (AFP) - The German firm that made thalidomide has issued its first apology in 50 years to the thousands born disabled as a result of the drug's use, drawing stinging criticism from advocates for some survivors.Grunenthal's chief executive Harald Stock said in a speech on Friday his firm was "very sorry" for its silence towards the victims of the drug, which was sold to pregnant women to cur

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a restaurant in Pyongyang, the country's state media reported Saturday, as he conducted his first inspection in the economic field in almost a month.Kim went around different sections of Haemaji Restaurant along with his wife Ri Sol-ju, according to the Korean Central News Agency.Kim "expressed great satisfaction" over the construction of the restaurant, say

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) – China's manufacturing activity for August slowed for the fourth straight month amid global economic uncertainty, an industry group said Saturday.The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.2 last month, down from 50.1 in July, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).The index hit its worst level since Nove

South Korean stocks will likely move sideways next week, with investors eyeing the result of the European Central Bank (ECB)'s monetary policy meeting scheduled for later in the week, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished at 1,905.12 this week, down 0.8 percent from the previous week. It sank into negative territory earlier in the week after top-cap Samsung

GHANZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) - A twin suicide attack, one of them a "massive" truck bombing, struck a US-run NATO base in Afghanistan's central province of Wardak on Saturday, killing at least six civilians, officials said.Eight other people including two NATO soldiers were wounded in the attack around dawn, Afghan and NATO officials said."A suicide bomber on foot detonated near the gate of the base

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) _ Operations resumed Friday at the Amuay refinery where an explosion set off a raging fire and killed 42 people and injured more than 150 others, Venezuela's state oil company announced.The accident had paralyzed work at the oil installation in western Venezuela since the huge explosion early Saturday, which authorities blamed on a gas leak. Amuay is one of the largest refi

NAJU, South Korea (Yonhap News) – Police said Saturday they will request an arrest warrant against a suspect in the latest child rape case that has shocked South Korea.The 23-year-old man, identified only by his surname Ko, was detained on Friday, a day after he allegedly abducted a sleeping 7-year-old girl from her home and brutally raped her in Naju, 350 kilometers south of Seoul.Ko has confesse