Korean stocks jumped 1.82 percent Friday as signs of optimism in Europe and the U.S. eased jitters, whetting foreign investor appetite for risky assets, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI gained 34.83 points to 1,949.80. Trading volume was moderate at 397.4 million shares worth 7.24 trillion won ($6.38 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 490 to 353. “Shares gathered significant ground on eased pressure buttressed by a series of smooth debt aucti

TEHRAN (AP) ― An earthquake of moderate strength caused damage and injured 100 people in the city of Neyshabour in the northeast part of Iran Thursday afternoon, Iran’s state TV reported.The TV report said 17 of the injured were hospitalized and the others were treated for minor injuries and released.As the quake rumbled through the area, many residents of the city fled their homes into the streets. Rescue teams were still at work in the area late Thursday.The magnitude 5.5 quake shattered windo

GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy (AFP) ― Divers combed the wreck of an Italian liner for a sixth day on Thursday, as leaked phone transcripts showed a ship’s officer misleading coast guards about the scale of the disaster.The unidentified officer insisted that there had only been “a blackout” on board some 40 minutes after the giant Costa Concordia crashed into rocks off the picturesque Tuscan island of Giglio on Friday and lurched on to its side.Eleven bodies have so far been recovered, with officials sayi

The passage of the Korea-U.S. free trade deal two months ago should have put an end to the time-consuming, rancorous debate on it, though its railroading by the ruling party could have a lingering ill effect on domestic politics. Yet, the bitter conflict has raised its ugly head again.Held primarily responsible is the opposition Democratic United Party. Its newly elected leadership pledges to have the treaty abrogated. But the responsibility must be shared by an ill-prepared administration, whic

A prosecutor shamed National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae, speaker of the National Assembly, when he raided the offices of his secretaries for search and seizure on Thursday. None of his predecessors had faced such mortification since the Assembly was inaugurated in 1948.But the problem is not just that he deserved the shame, as he was suspected of buying votes for his election to the chairmanship of the ruling party four years ago. More humiliation is yet to come if he tries to hide behind wha

Mitt Romney, the favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination, has brought the rights and wrongs of private equity to the front of U.S. politics. He once ran a private-equity firm, and he has been attacked for it even by fellow conservatives. This is a new version of an old complaint, and the quality of the discussion is not improving with age. The question to ask about private equity ― which involves taking over companies, restructuring them and selling them at a profit ― is not wheth

The environment surrounding the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has become harsher. The decline of the Cabinet’s approval rating, discord within the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and stalled discussions between the ruling and opposition parties are just a few of the problems it faces.Noda no longer has the leisure to continue the attitude described as “safe driving.” He needs to go on the offensive toward realizing integrated reform of the social security and tax systems, whic

Last week the Washington Post reported on a survey conducted last month by the University of Hong Kong which found that many more people living in the Chinese territory identify themselves as “Hong Kongers” rather than Chinese. The number of people who identifiy with their city was actually more than double the number of those who see themselves as Chinese.Chinese officials were not pleased by the results of the survey and other indicators showing that Hong Kong’s population is not moving toward